A Little Excitement
by his.dark.demise
Summary: He'd wanted some excitement in his life, but he'd never imagined where or how far it would take him.
1. Shock

_I do not own The Incredibles, Pixar, Disney, etc._

_This is a work of fiction, any resemblence to persons living or dead is purely cooincidence._

_No animals were harmed in the making of this story._

**Note: **I don't actually have any plans for this one, just thought the idea sounded fun and went with it. Enjoy my work of randomness.

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><p>She'd never done something so stupid in her life.<p>

"Come on, Incredigirl! You're not even trying!" Syndrome was back to his evil-doing after a few years of haitus, and this was only one of many times that he'd been found causing chaos around Metroville. He'd successfully turned himself into a household name, but not in the way he'd originally planned. "Technological Terror" some called him; He'd upgraded his omni-droid again and added a dozen more different gadgets to his arsenal, enough to cause city-wide panic whenever he set foot there. It was just another day for Incredigirl who had decided to take on him solo. Big mistake as she was then realizing, but calling for backup wasn't an option this time around. She wanted to do something on her own, prove that she didn't have to have her family to back her up! _But did you have to pick the villain that villains fear?_

She finally found an out from the droid that had been chasing her for a little over half an hour and ducked into the nearby alley to catch her breath. Incredigirl leaned heavily against the brick wall, gasping as quietly as she could and trying to come up with some kind of plan of action. Syndrome's machines were getting more and more difficult to de-activate, and this particular one didn't seem to have anything at all that would give its functions away outside of the fact that it loved to chase her and wreck things. A slight sound had taken her attention to the dark-side of the alley. Who else but the creator himself would be standing there looking entirely too pleased with himself. "Giving up already?" Syndrome smirked, arms crossed.

"I wish _you'd_ give up and go home." She sighed, still leaned against the wall.

"I would, but I was hoping I could take the credit for being the villain that Mr. Incredible's little girl gained her fame from defeating."

"Is it always all about you?" She retorted. The location of the droid continued to stay in the back of her mind. It was suddenly quiet.

"What can I say? I love the limelight." Syndrome shrugged casually, peering down to fiddle with a glove. "Admittedly, I was hoping for something a little more exciting."

"Your life is _so_ boring, I'm sure."

"If only you knew." Incredigirl rolled her eyes, chancing a glance in his direction. He'd picked up his phone and appeared to be going over whatever text messages he'd gotten while he was having his game of 'Chase Little Miss Disappear'. Incredigirl's expression changed from tired to baffled in less time than it took for him to tick out a reply and press send. What nerve he had, forgetting about her like that! Was she honestly that small of a threat? She wanted to do something to him, anything to ruin the bastard's day and improve her own. The wheels turned while he cranked out another text response, and she finally pushed herself off of the wall.

"So you want excitement, huh." She muttered, stalking over towards him.

"Entertain me, Incredig-" It was the most stupid thing she'd ever done, but the shock of it had caused Syndrome to drop his phone. Before he'd known she was even anywhere near him, he'd suddenly found himself in the most awkward kiss of his life. Did she just..? Yes, she did. Why did she do that? She'd broken off from her ninja-smooch, staring him in the eye from the tips of her toes. Syndrome took a step back in an attempt to take it all in and she walked right after him, his phone crunching to bits underneath her shoe. "That's not really what-"

Incredigirl hadn't given him an opportunity to finish. With one movement she'd knocked him back with her forcefield, landing him uncerimoniously into the nearest trash can. Instead of following however, she simply stood there with her hands on her hips, sharing the same smirk he'd had not long ago. "Hope I didn't disappoint." With that she was gone, leaving the villain to contemplate what had just occurred. Alright, so it wasn't the best kiss he'd ever had but it certainly wasn't all that bad, and in all fairness she was a pretty good looking gal. So much for texting Robers back about that press conference next week, now he'd have to buy a new phone! Angry thing she was, but mayhaps he'd asked for it. Eventually he'd removed himself from the can (which thankfuly had been empty) and brushed himself off, heading back to where he'd come from. This fight was over.

"I think two can play at this game, however..."


	2. Surprise

**Note:** Is it just me, or do all of my chapters have a similar word count? Ah well. Continuing on with the randomness. Trust me, this story sounds a lot cooler in my head.

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><p><em>This can't be real...<em>

Her brain's wheels were spinning out at a hundred miles an hour, stuck in a trudge of thoughts and possibilities. Violet sat in the livingroom with her parents and siblings, watching some reality show that she had very little interest in and even less attention on. She had a piece of toast on a plate in her lap that hadn't been touched since she'd put it there. She'd gotten a hearty congratulations from her parents over the last two days for doing such a great job at handling the villains that had sought her out after the last confrontation with Syndrome. Apparently they hadn't heard what she'd done; Her parents were unawares as well, and she was perfectly fine with that.

"Are you alright, Vi? You look a little pale." Ms. Incredible had finally noticed her daughter's unusual behavior, leaning over to get a better look from her spot on the couch. Violet turned her attention away from the television that she hadn't been watching, meeting her mother's gaze with a weak smile that didn't leave her convinced.

"I'm fine, just a little tired."

"Are you sure? I could make you some tea..."

"Really, mom."

"Seriously? Not this idiot again!" Mr. Incredible sighed loudly as the show they'd been watching was interrupted by the local news. They were covering what seemed to be a press conference on a very important person, one who Mr. Incredible cared very little for. A menace to society is what he'd be called, or perhaps the scum of the earth. The only person in Metroville history with a track record almost as long as his age when it came to making money. He'd single-handedly overtaken a dozen competitors in the same industry, successfully monopolizing his own enterprise.

After a reporter rambled on about what was going to happen shortly, the camera was fixed upon the man of the hour, Buddy Pine. The crowd was enthralled from the moment he opened his mouth, and even Violet was surprised. When it came to business Mr. Pine was a smooth talker and an even better crowd manipulator, showing no signs at all of being completely barking mad (so far as the Incredibles were concerned, anyway). He was going on about a charity ball that would be hosted that very night by himself, of course, along with thanking about a dozen different people to put on the ruse that he gave a care about something. Good for business, after all.

"Every damn channel. Might as well start dinner." Mr. Incredible stretched, getting up from his seat and heading towards the kitchen along with Ms. Incredible, leaving the kids to themselves. Violet was lost to her thoughts again, watching the screen quietly. The feeling of uneasiness was slowly creeping up on her; There were a thousand questions left unanswered, and staring at the man who created them was almost too much to handle.

**Six Hours Ago**

"I'm starting to think you get too much fun out of this."

"What makes you think that?" The answer to the question was obvious; Incredigirl had been tangled up in one of Syndrome's many machines, as always. She'd hoped that her last actions would've kept him at bay for a while but the villain refused to stay down, coming back at her with twice the force and far too much ego. If cockiness was a drug, he would've overdosed and died years ago. Sadly no such luck had occurred and there he stood before her while she made her attempts at fighting this modified omni-droid to no avail; It was damned embarassing.

"Can't you just.. urph! Disappear for a few months and give me a vacation? Don't you have a company to run or something?"

"I'm on lunch."

"A two and a half hour lunch break?"

"There's advantages to being your own boss." He winked, pressing a button that caused the mess of wires and tubes to suck back into their creation. It ended up dropping Incredigirl and landing her on the ground with a particularly loud thump. Syndrome took several steps forward until he was standing over her, listening intently to her groans as she attempted to get up and going again. The drop had been far and pavement wasn't a comfortable thing to fall on. She was praying that he hadn't broken anything. After several moments of reveling in her own discomfort, a sharp sound from above her was enough to get a head-lift. He was holding a hand out for her with a bored expression.

"Just had to make it more embarassing, didn't you." She muttered, staring at the gloved hand for a while.

"I'm just a good sport, now are you gonna take the damned hand or stare at it all day?" She finally shook her head and did as she was asked. He pulled Incredigirl to her feet, realizing just then how tiny she really was. Hardly came up to his shoulder, but that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered at that point was the look on Incredigirl's face as she was met with the very same thing she'd done to him only a week ago. The only difference is that he'd put some serious effort into it, and the feeling was nearly enough to knock her off her feet again. Crap, wasn't she supposed to close her eyes for stuff like this? If this was a kissing contest, he'd definitely won, but what was the motivation to even compete? The look in her eyes was something like a deer in the headlights, and he couldn't have looked any more pleased at the result.

"You ju-AHH!" And just as before in previous fasion, before she'd had a moment to finish some kind of electric energy had come forth from his gloves, or perhaps something else that sent a current of electricity forth, shocking her as if she'd been struck by lightening. Then just as she'd been picked up, she was dropped again and left to shiver out the pain on the sidewalk. When Incredigirl had finally gotten her bearings back, Syndrome had vanished and the omni-droid had moved on, but a small piece of paper was stuck on the grooves in the sidewalk. She picked it up gingerly, unfolding and reading the contents.

**"Tag, you're it."**

Violet sighed, having fully recovered from the blow she'd been given, but not from the shock. The piece of paper she'd been left with was sitting in her back pocket now, along with his face all over the major news channels. She knew that revenge was in order, but had no idea how to go about it and her mind being the wreck that it currently was didn't help matters. She sighed, pulling her legs up and sitting her head on her knees as her father hummed from the kitchen and Dash wandered away mumbling about stupid news shows ruining good television. She thought about this ball he was hosting, and wondered who was invited, if there were invitations at all. Then, she wondered if she had any dresses fancy enough for something so high-style.

Then, she had a plan.


	3. The Party

**Later that night…**

Getting into the party had been easier than Violet had anticipated. Much to her relief, she hadn't run into anybody familiar. Her hair had been pulled back into a slight up-do, with a violet colored flower to add "pizzazz", or so she thought. Rich people expected that, after all. She'd decided to go with what she'd worn to prom, and luckily it was just fancy enough to pass the prying eyes that passed her to and fro. Who was this girl? It didn't take Violet to realize that even with the fancy clothes she was out of place, and for several minutes she had doubts about being there at all.

"How's everything, ladies and gentlemen?" The sound of his voice caused Violet to whirl around on the spot. He was quite a distance away, but she'd heard him clearly and immediately pushed herself a bit further away, ending up at the punch bowl. Maybe this was a stupid idea after all. She sighed, pouring herself a drink, back turned from the party. She'd just have to spend a little while here, and then leave. That was it.

"I don't recall inviting you." violet nearly threw her punch cup in the air, whirling around to face the very man she'd been attempting to avoid the whole night. The feeling appeared to be mutual however, for Buddy Pine was standing there aghast, mouth hanging open and white as a sheet. It couldn't be her! Violet raised her hand slowly, wiggling her fingers at him in a nervous greeting while he took the whole thing in.

"And who is this lovely lady, Mr. Pine?" Double whammy. Buddy brought his mind back to reality, actually looking at her for the first time since he'd received the shock. The crowd behind him couldn't see the expression that Violet knew well. He could give her away if he wanted to, and the idea was clearly crossing his mind.

"She's ah...well, she's-" He was scrambling for words, so Violet filled in the blank.

"Girlfriend." She smiled nervously as he took a third shock. The guests surveyed her pleasantly, somewhat surprised by the announcement. By the time Buddy had turned around again, a fake confidence had replaced whatever expression he'd been wearing before. He muttered, "Sure, we'll go with that..." while the guests gabbed amongst each other. Violet wondered for a moment if he already had a girlfriend, much like she was taken herself. Either way he was clearly trapped and that knowledge took the edge off somewhat.

Being Mr. Pine's significant other wasn't as hard as she'd thought it would be. Between all the business and small talk she hardly got a word in. The two of them never found themselves alone for more than a few moments; it was as if Buddy commanded attention to himself without asking for it, and that was fine to her. The less talking she had to do, the better. She could tell he wasn't in a good place, but that was fine too.

"So, how goes the dealings with Techna-co? I hear it's been pretty rough waters." An older man, violet assumed he was some kind of investor, spoke up over his punch glass.

"Don't remind me." Buddy sighed, and Violet had the feeling he wasn't really interested in talking about his personal business with her standing so close. "Waterston's a tough nut to crack, the bid goes up a few million every time, but he's just not biting. They're going to hold on as long as they can, obviously."

"He's also been in your business thirty years longer. I can't imagine him being pleasant about selling out to a young'n like you! A multi-billionaire in his twenties, it must be quite a slap in the face."

"Age has very little to do with the fact that he's been very clearly out-played." Buddy peered around for a moment, looking for his escape, and he found it. Before the old man could continue, he was interrupted. "I do hate to be so rude, but would you mind excusing us for a moment?" violet blinked as she was taken roughly by the wrist, barely able to wave an awkward goodbye to the shocked crowd. He lead her towards a back exit, and it was all she could do not to trip over her own heels as they climbed staircase after staircase, trying to pull herself out of his vice-grip.

"What are you doing? Would you.. Let me go already?" She grumbled, pulling against him.

"No, I won't!" He snapped over his shoulder, finally reaching the door of their destination. He slammed it open angrily, pulling her in front of himself and shoving her roughly out onto the roof. Violet tripped, scrabbling over her feet for several moments. When she was finally able to look up and at him, he looked nearly train-wrecked.

"This?" He motioned around. "This is not your business. You don't need to be listening to any of what you're hearing! What are you even doing here?" He demanded in a flurry of confusion.

"It was interesting at least..." She replied meekly.

"It doesn't matter! This is some sacred ground you're treading over, Incredigirl!"

"It's Violet."

"Whatever!"

"Does having a girlfriend scare you that much?" She tilted her head, breaking his concentration. Buddy tilted his head, straitening his tie.

"What?"

"From the way those people acted, you obviously don't have one."

"And you do, so what's your point? Does he even know that you're here?" Violet stopped dead, blushing profusely. He was still lost in confusion as she sputtered her response.

"H-How did you know that?"

"Does it really matter?" He replied in exasperation, hoping that she'd just give up the battle and go home. "Look, crossing into this world is a mistake you don't want to make, alright?"

"Because when you're not being a freaky super villain, you're being a freaky business-man. Big change." she countered, revenge for mentioning -her- personal life. Buddy's eyes narrowed.

"At least it isn't a dead end job at a hot-dog stand."

"You take that back!" She demanded. He smirked, seeing that he finally had the upper hand.

"Not to mention the deadbeat boyfriend that'll go about as far as the local hookah bar that we ALL know is up to some shady stuff, you've got a great life ahead of you!"

"Shut up!" She shouted, and the two of them finally fell into an awkward radio silence. Buddy shook his head, adjusting his tie again and brushing himself off while Violet stood stunned and upset. When he spoke again it reeked with cockiness, and she thought she might be sick.

"I've got standards that you can't live up to, babe. It's just that simple."

"Then why did you kiss me?" she countered, though the question sounded much more like a demand for answers.

"Felt like it."

"Why?"

"What is this, the Spanish inquisition? Because you did it wrong, I don't know!" The silence started once again, and he waited patiently for the next word that he knew would eventually come. What she said however, was not what he was expecting.

"Did you at least, you know... like it?" The stumbly way in which the question was posed caused him to grin in amusement, but violet wasn't laughing at all.

"Being mortal enemies kind of makes that question irrelevant, doesn't it?"

"So you did like it!" She gasped.

"I didn't say that." He put a finger in the air, but the straw she'd been grabbing for had worked.

"You insinuated it, though-"

"Big words like that are reserved for my lawyers, Incre-violet." He coughed the mistake away.

"Best in town?" She tilted her head.

"Of course?" Buddy blinked, unsure of where the conversation was headed.

"Better than Rick?"

"Are you trying to sue me?"

"Did you like it or not!"

"Look, I really think you should leave." He sighed, hoping to end the conversation quickly and get back to the mingling and party-goers. Violet however, didn't appear to be interested; she refused without saying a word. Buddy wanted badly to push her off the roof, kick her out of the building, anything to get away, but now his hands were tied. The crowd would ask where she'd gone off to, and he'd have to come up with some ridiculous story in hopes that Violet didn't decide to give a different recollection.

Violet wasn't fond of his expression as he turned heel and returned downstairs, but she followed anyway. The rest of the night went fairly smoothly; she had met several of his good friends and listened intently to whatever stories they wished to tell. Buddy had played along well enough but his malcontent was obvious to her. When the night's end had finally come around, she'd put the icing on the cake by landing a loving kiss on his cheek before she left.

"She's such a sweet girl. They're so hard to find these days, you know?"

"Sure thing," Buddy muttered, eyes burning into Violet's back as she disappeared. She felt alright all things considered, and the fresh air was just what she needed. Sneaking into her own window had proved to be fairly difficult in heels, but Mr. Pine's night had been a fair bit more stressful. She wouldn't get to see him grinding his teeth during the after-party as his eyes ran over the note she'd conveniently placed in his suit pocket, thinking of the many ways to extract revenge against such a terrible crime. She'd pay for this, damnit. Nobody messed with Buddy Pine and got away with it.

_Red Rover, Red Rover, Let Syndrome Come Over_


	4. Truce

Not only had he come over, he'd nearly shown up at their front door with an omni-droid set to kill. For several weeks following the party, Violet had regretted her meeting with Buddy; His alter-ego had replied by attacking so frequently (either by his own means or hiring someone else to do the dirty work) that she was starting to lose sleep. It was Helen again who had noticed as violet came stumbling in the door with a bag of homework and a dozen bumps and bruises from the exciting ride home.

"Is there something going on that we should know about, Vi? Every time we turn around there's chaos!"

"Guess Syndrome's just feeling extra-evil." She sighed, tossing her bag down and dragging the books and her laptop out of it. A plate with a sandwich had been placed next to her work, and she managed a thankful smile before Mrs. Parr sat across from her with the usual worried-mother look. Violet purposely avoided her gaze, starting immediately on the food so she wouldn't have to speak. How could she possibly explain the real reason behind all of the current carnage? She'd brought it upon herself to some extent, though hadn't a clue that he'd be so... mean about it.

"If there's anything we can help you with, Hun. You don't have to take this on alone." Violet swallowed the portion of sandwich she'd been munching on and turned on her laptop, shaking her head quickly.

"I'm proving that I can handle myself. I won't be part of the 'family super party' forever, Mom; it's time I got some good practice. I'm guessing he's figured it out and been a pain in the side on purpose. You know how those super villains are! Get 'em going and they don't know when to quit-" she was cut off by her computer alerting her to several new emails and a friend or two popping on her messenger.

"I suppose." Helen sighed, returning to her housework and chasing Jack-Jack around the house. While violet was working on a particularly difficult history question, a new message had popped up which took her attention away immediately. The unusual thing about it was that the messenger's identity was anonymous; A very unusual thing for a public chat program. She read the message, head tilting.

"Might want to check your email."

Sure enough she'd just gotten a new message. Without thinking, she clicked it open and read the short contents. A sinking feeling took over her chest after reading the name of the person who'd sent it. How did he know what her email was? How did he even know she'd be home? She quickly exited the message as her mother wandered by and gathered up her books, shoving them into her backpack with a forcefulness that caused Helen to stop what she was doing.

"Going somewhere?" She asked. Violet felt the concern in her voice, but tried her best to lie about where she was really going. Where could she go that wouldn't alarm the parents?

"Yeah, going out with some friends tonight."

"On a Tuesday night? Don't you have a test to study for?"

"Oh, right! Yeah, we're gonna do a study group then run by that great wing place, they're having a special!" She left the room before her mother could ask anymore questions, threw her backpack into her room and ran out the door. The car was started and going only moments later, and violet's mind was only on what was written.

"It's time we called a truce. Same roof, come alone."

When she'd climbed the stairs and entered the area that she'd previously been thrown into, he was already waiting for her. violet sighed in relief at the sight of his t-shirt and jeans, trying not to feel so self-conscious about not having her super suit to save her if he had decided to do something crazy. He hadn't noticed her immediately, since he'd been content at staring at the scenery underneath him; The building was the tallest in the city and under this new light source it was the most amazing view of Metroville she'd ever had. she wondered if he'd had that in mind when he'd ordered the place to be built, but the thought was cut short.

"I've been thinking for a while."

"Between beatings and meetings, I'm sure." she sighed, rubbing her cheek.

"I really do hate those meetings. Talked myself out of one today at least."

"Comes with being your own boss."

"I did like it." The strangely incomplete sentence caused a silence between them while Violet attempted to take in the meaning and formulate a response. He was still turned away from her, patiently waiting for a response. She was hoping for something that didn't sound as bad as what she ended up saying.

"So I'm not a bad kisser then?"

"I didn't say that."

"Just assumed-"

"You know what they say about assumptions." By this time he'd decided to turn around to observe his prey. She stood there awkwardly, head tilted at his expressionless face.

"So you brought me here to insult me, then?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

"I heard what you said, but I don't really get what you're saying. Are you going to ask me out or something?"

"Would you go out with me?" He raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"I have a boyfriend. You know that." She responded immediately, which lead him to believe for a moment that she was only saying the right thing out of obligation. His expression remained unchanged, however, and it bothered her. Even more bothersome was that he had started to move towards her. violet took several steps backward but quickly ran out of room, hitting a wall beside the door she'd just entered from.

"I'd like to think I can do better."

"I doubt that." She replied, eyes on the ground and thinking of some way to escape this awkward situation. However, before she could come up with something he was upon her and she was caught up in his arms, practically melting into a very well-played kiss.

"I didn't come up here to take no for an answer." He muttered, and by that time she could hardly stand on her own two feet. He could really lay on the charm when he needed it, and she hated him for it at that moment. She wanted to push him away, tell him just how stupid he really was for thinking he could break up a perfectly good relationship over her stupid mistake, but the words couldn't escape from her mouth. He hadn't finished speaking, however. "You doomed us both with that little stunt you pulled a few weeks back, if you recall. Some of those party-goers have been asking about you and I'm running out of stories for why you haven't been around."

"You're making it official so you don't look like an asshole? Clever." She managed to retort.

"Gotta look out for my image." He shrugged. She couldn't place an emotion to the gaze he held on her, and she didn't bother trying to fight her way out of his arms now that the initial shock had worn off. At that moment a sinking feeling hit her, and she swallowed back her emotions. What he'd said then...

"I thought I wasn't up to your standards."

"Changed my mind."

"Doesn't change the fact that I - ugh, I have a boyfriend already and it isn't you!" she poked him hard in the chest, but he didn't appear to be phased by the gesture.

"For how much longer?" He tilted his head, looking entirely too confident for her tastes. The question had a meaning to cryptic for Violet to understand but before she had time to analyze it - as if on queue - her phone rang. She snaked her way out of Buddy's grasp to raise the phone to her eye level to check the caller; It was the very person they were discussing.

"Hello? Tony? Yeah, I'm okay. Hey," She peered back at Buddy who appeared as though he'd already forgotten her. He was leaned against the wall he'd had her trapped on, answering a number of texts he'd missed while they'd been chatting. She sighed heavily, head shaking. "I think we need to talk."

She'd completely lost track of time. The minute she'd put her relationship in jeopardy, her boyfriend had jumped on the defensive and the argument had gone back and forth many times. It was nearing completely dark by the time the conversation had ended and she'd slammed her phone shut, hands and teeth clenched and ready to punch something. She spun around to face the direction that Buddy had been in. He'd moved over to a bench near the edge of the building and had apparently ended his own conversation at almost the exact same time, which only lead to more text messages to answer. With such a large sum of shares and cash on the line, it was absolutely necessary that everyone was on the same page to make a huge transition when it happened. Sadly the continuation of that conversation wouldn't be had that night, since violet had stalked over towards Buddy, snatched the phone out of his hand, and chucked it over the side of the building with an angry shout.

"What did my service provider ever do to you?" He asked defensively. She wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"You win."

"Actually, I just lost another phone thanks to you."

"Are you going to ask me out or not?" She huffed, arms crossed and looking about ready to turn around.

"Are you going to keep destroying my phones?"

"Answer the question!"

"After that, I'm not really sure anymore!"

"Buddy!" She shouted. The smile that crept over his face was enough to make her want to punch it. He was only a powerless civilian, after all. She could do him some serious damage without all those fancy gadgets, and the thought crossed her mind more than once as she sat down beside him with an angry huff. "I better not regret this."

"Ye of little faith." Buddy sighed and while he would've liked to do something to fix the situation, they would end up sitting like that for the remainder of the night. Off to a great start already, it seemed.


	5. Thrilling

_Sorry for the wait, folks. The next few chapters are on their way tonight. My flash drive lost all of the formatting on this chapter, so I appologize if there are any grammatical errors that I wasn't able to catch while re-writing. Things are heating up in Violet's life! Will she be able to maintain this "relationship" of sorts without losing her mind?_

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><p>"It's three in the morning. Where have you been?" Violet had done her best to sneak in as quietly as she could, but it had done no good. The lights had snapped on overhead and her mother had peered at her from the comfort of an armchair, much like she had when Mr. Parr had attempted the same stunt not long ago. This mention of the time had prompted the raven-haired girl to look down at her watch, nearly jumping out of her skin. Their conversation had really taken that long? Violet smiled nervously, chuckling.<p>

"Oh, hey Mom, I was just, um, well, the study group went late and the food was so awesome that I had to-"

"I called your friends. There wasn't a study group."

"I bet she was with Tony! Bow chicka bow wow!" Dash appeared from a nearby hallway, leaning on the wall with a smug grin as his mother rolled her eyes. Violet's eyes lit up at her brother s attempt at saving her, but were quickly drowned in her bad luck again.

"I called Tony." "Oh," Violet snapped to attention, having now realized the situation before her. She really did break up with him! Although the feeling wasn't as strong as she'd hoped it would be, a few tears were enough to distract her mother from the subject at hand, at least.

"Yeah, we... we broke up, I didn't want to tell anybody yet, I'm sorry Mom..." She sniffled.

"Alright, alright, just head to bed. You need to pass that test tomorrow."

"I will." That was all it took. She snuck away to her room, changing down into her PJs and hopping into bed, exhaustion finally taking her over. However, she ended up spending the next twenty minutes staring at the ceiling as the night finally sunk in. Someone she never wanted to think about was suddenly at the forefront of her mind, and he was stuck there. A relationship of several years taken apart because why? She couldn't even explain it away in her own mind. There was nothing attractive about Buddy Pine; He was a spiteful, jealous, unpleasant man who made a hobby out of making others miserable. He'd even found a way to contract back his island from the government's claws - for what, she had no idea. Violet sighed, throwing the pillow over her head and forcing sleep. This wasn't worth it.

_Ye of little faith, indeed._

The next morning had come and gone more quickly than Violet had expected, and she d passed her test with flying colors. To celebrate she had spent some time with close friends for lunch at a small store not far off the college campus. They sat at an outdoor table, munching on sandwiches. For once Violet felt like a normal girl - that was until that normal world was abruptly interrupted.

"Mind if I take a seat?" The voice had startled her, and all three of her friends had peered up at the source. Two tilted their heads and one gasped in surprise as the very man that Violet had been complaining about in her dreams put himself beside her, smiling shrewdly. Violet sighed, muttering under her breath, just out of earshot of the girls across the table.

"So you're stalking me now?"

"Don't believe in coincidences, do you."

"Couldn't sit somewhere else?" He didn't bother responding to the next question since the girl who had seemed shocked to see the man had addressed him, causing Violet to blink several times in her direction. She was the bookie one of the group, but even so. The other two girls had gone on their way back to classes after a while, leaving Violet, Ginger and Buddy to sit there, but suddenly the raven-haired girl felt like a third wheel in the strangest debate she'd ever heard. She didn't know anything about stocks or companies, so the conversation had lost her well beyond the first few words. Ginger had suggested making changes to several different things, which had caught Mr. Pine off guard and caused a lively word exchange which left Violet to look between them with an emotion that felt somewhat stuck between annoyed and fascinated. At the end of it, however, her friend had left Buddy to lean back in his chair with a thoughtful expression and nothing but silence in between them.

"Have a nice day." He'd eventually been able to say, which left only he and Violet there.

Violet peered at Buddy, who had gone back to his newspaper. He shrugged, flipping the page and grinning at the headline. She shook her head, finally able to eat her lunch in peace and thankful that there was nothing else to do with her day beyond dealing with unwanted company until she went home. She rolled her eyes as he chuckled behind his paper.

"So since you re stalking me now, does that mean I can finally go home to some peace and quiet instead of one of your stupid robots tearing up Metroville?"

"Hey! That's a sentient piece of machinery you're insulting!"

"Artificially stupid, right, can you answer the question?" The answer was one she didn't care to see; Buddy simply shrugged and put his paper away, clearing his throat. He got up from his seat, peering down at Violet. Her expression was all but pleasant.

"Wouldn't that seem suspicious?" The matter-of-fact look in his eyes was enough to make her scream. She hated to admit that he was right about anything, but that much was indeed true. More supers than her parents would be curious if Syndrome had suddenly dropped off the map. Then again, the idea of beating the crap out of the person who had caused her nothing but aggravation throughout most of the last two days would feel pretty good.

"Guess I'll see you tonight then. Same time as usual?" Violet peered down at her watch.

"Count on it." Buddy winked, leaning on to place a peck on her cheek before moving along to meet someone who'd been waiting not far off. Violet sat there watching the millionaire disappear in the crowd, unsure of what to feel. On one hand, she wanted nothing more than to cause him the same amount of unnecessary suffering as he'd done unto her over the last few weeks, but on the other hand, she felt bad about attempting to hurt someone who she was supposedly dating. _Can you really even consider this a relationship?_ _What was that about having little faith? What a stupid saying._

While pondering this same thing on her way home - just as promised and exactly on time - another omni-droid wandered its way through the outskirts of Metroville. It was as if the thing had been waiting for her to show up. As she got a quick look around the area however, its owner was nowhere to be seen. Violet didn't have long to ponder about it; the machine was barreling towards her at a heart stopping speed. She got out of the way with barely a hair of space in between herself and the rolling death ball, but something was different about it this time.

"Incredigirl, watch out!" Came a familiar voice, and before she could fully grasp the moment, she was swept up and away from the shots that the omni-droid had just launched at her. Dash set her down a block later, grinning wildly. He must've been there before she'd arrived, for he looked fairly worn out as if it had been chasing him around for quite a long period of time prior.

"This one's smarter than the rest, it doesn t take long to catch on." He panted, eyes ahead of them and on high alert. As if on queue the machine had re-appeared from its death roll, charging after them both with a reckless abandon that she'd never seen in a piece of metal before. But this was no ordinary piece of metal as its creator had argued earlier, and clearly he'd made his point.

Violet threw a force field in front of them, causing the Omni-droid to stall in front of them just long enough for Dash to zoom off again, but it would have none of that. One of its gigantic claws struck the ground in front of his running path, stopping them short; it used a second claw to attempt to bash them from above.

_Now this is a party._ Syndrome smirked, sitting neatly on the roof of a nearby building while Frozone appeared to get the incredi-kids out of trouble for the time being. Even the three of them combined seemed to be no match for the upgraded monster. For a moment he wondered if perhaps he should ve withheld on releasing this one for a while. As far as Syndrome was concerned, it was a modern marvel of engineering that they were up against, but perhaps too soon after the last model. At the rate they were going, he'd never be able to keep up! The thought was pushed from his head as the rest of the Incredible team had shown up in response to a clearly losing battle.

"You could've called sooner!" Elastigirl shouted from afar, her husband only steps behind. Five against one, and the results were stunning. Nobody could seem to find an answer to the rampaging menace, so all they could do was keep it busy. Violet followed a trail of ice that Frozone left in the monster's wake, and while she hadn't been searching for it, the person she had been looking for earlier suddenly appeared in the frozen water's reflection that was shortly knocked away by a machine-arm. She turned around immediately, eyes set upon the man behind the chaos. She thought it was unusual that he'd stay so far away from the action, but didn't have time to dwell on it. As soon as Violet could find a moment, she disappeared into an alleyway, making her way up towards Syndrome's whereabouts. She could only hope that he hadn't decided to move to a better vantage point before she got there.

Sure enough as she sprinted up the final set of stairs onto the roof, he was still there and watching the scene unfold with a morbid curiosity. Violet cleared her throat, but received no reaction from him.

"I don't exactly find this attractive." She sighed, finally able to catch her breath and relax since he didn't appear to be interested in a fight. Syndrome eventually turned away from the battle-view, moving towards her with a sneaky grin. Before Violet could react, she'd been floored on the roof of that building, staring up at him. She hadn't thought to wonder when he'd gotten so quick or when she'd gotten so slow, or even what in the hell could be going through his head. The only thing Incredigirl wondered as she got caught up in a kiss was who could possibly be watching or if her parents could see her from their place on the ground.

"The suspense is thrilling though, isn't it?" He whispered, causing her to gasp lightly. The tone of his voice had sent shivers up her spine. All at once, Violet s emotions were going crazy. It was something in her chest, an anxious feeling that she couldn't shake. A feeling that was caught midway between attraction and pure terror. It was no doubt at this very moment that she'd realized what a mistake she'd truly made in agreeing to Syndrome's crazy antics, but it was too late now.

_Just go with it. The last thing you should be doing is giving into this!_

Violet had no idea how long she'd been laying there, but an explosion on the ground had caused both of them to turn their heads towards the sound.

"Game over." Violet formulated the snarky response, smirking. Syndrome sighed at the idea of having to rebuild the machine from scratch for the hundredth time. She was able to sneak away from him for a short moment, ears catching the sounds of her family calling for her from far below. She made her way to the edge of the roof, peering downward and shouting down at them. Syndrome, who had been out of eyesight until that point, had suddenly come up behind her.

"Incredigirl! Look out!" Elastigirl had shouted, but Violet's eyes had already widened to the size of saucers. Instead of pushing her off the side as her parents expected him to do, however, he leaned in close to her ear.

"The game's only just started." It was all he d have the chance to say, for Elastigirl was already working on scaling the building. Violet felt something slip between her fingers, and then his presence backed away. All she could hear was the sound of his rocket boots propelling him from the scene, giving Elastigirl a half-assed salute and carrying on his own way. It was all Violet could do to ball her hand into a fist as her legs gave out from under her from the shock of it all.

"What happened? What did he say?" Her mother demanded, having caught Violet on her way down to the ground. She sat lightheaded for several moments, head shaking and unable to explain or speak of what went on between the arch-enemies beyond her family's earshot. In the state she was in it was easy to play dumb, but it didn't leave her parents any more convinced that nothing at all had happened. When they were sure that they d make no progress in speaking further on the matter, Mr. Incredible picked up Violet and took her downstairs and into the family car, parked conveniently out of the Omni-droid's path of destruction.

"How does a guy survive in the real world with such a twisted conscience?" Mr. Incredible muttered from behind the wheel. Elastigirl sighed, peering into the rear-view mirror at her two children. Dash had passed out, and Violet was looking down at her hands. She knew something wasn't right, but how to get her to talk? Little did she know that there was a small shred of paper in her daughter's hands, and more going through her mind than she could ever understand.

_Let's play hide and seek next. Who's first?_


	6. Mystery Man

Over the next two months, things fell into an almost predictable pattern. Syndrome would attack, Incredigirl would defend, the town would be saved, and she wouldn't hear from him again until he would show up at some random location she would just happen to be at as a civilian. Then they would either chat about nothing at all or argue about the same until he was pulled away by something work-related. When Violet sat back and looked at the bigger picture, Buddy's entire life really did seem to revolve around his work. She'd decided that it was hardly any wonder that he'd been so set upon revenge with that much time to think about it and few constructive hobbies to serve as a distraction. She'd pondered several times about if he'd ever had a girlfriend at all with such a busy schedule.

_Then again, guess I can't really judge someone who hasn't been allowed to get **that** close_, she thought to herself. Much to her personal embarassment, she'd sometimes found herself wondering what it would be like before shoving the idea off as being too crazy to even consider. That being as it was, she realized that there seemed to be very little that was widely known about her supposed significant other. Buddy didn't seem interested in speaking about his personal life if he had one, and there wasn't much to say about her own so the conversation often fell silent or wasn't brought up at all. This put a certain insatiable curiosity in Violet, enough to bring her to the door of one of Elastigirl's personal friends.

"Can you promise not to tell my parents about this?" It was the first words out of her mouth after explaining away a situation to the man who had listened with an intense interest. She had told him that something seemed unusual about a certain Mr. Pine and that since Tim was an investigator, could he figure out what the deal was with the lack of public information regarding that same person. "It's my own thing, just for curiosity's sake." Violet added on with a convincing smile. Tim nodded, smirking.

"Funny that you should mention him since you're not the first to inquire. I did my own digging a while back and I'll have to admit, it was hard to find anything. Pine's made a pretty significant effort to keep his life to himself. It isn't cheap to hide this much stuff."

"What could be so horrible?" Violet tilted her head. Tim shrugged.

"That's the other funny thing. He's a perfectly normal guy that lived a perfectly normal life." It was then that Tim had ushered Violet's attention towards the computer he was sitting in front of. He pulled up a picture of a happy looking red-headed kid and his parents at a local science fair. He couldn't have been any taller than Dash when they were kids but the award he'd accepted was much larger than him. There was something that stood out about the picture however, and Tim confirmed her suspicions a moment later.

"I can only assume he was adopted but there's no papers to prove it. Anyway," he moved along, listing any pictures or articles he'd found which progressively aged the now-villian. "Been a successful kid for most of his life, skipped a lot of grades and graduated high school around sixteen. Didn't bother with college right away."

"Wait a minute, isn't that Mirage?" Another picture of another award, but there was a much younger looking Mirage there beside him instead of his family and the look in his eyes seemed to have changed dramatically. He was smiling, sure, but something about it seemed misplaced. Clearly this was the beginnings of a person with darker intentions and the ability to make them happen. Fittingly enough, the award was for some kind of weapon system. Tim tilted his head, nodding.

"Sure is. Looks like she was a student of Harvard at the same time. Pine didn't stay long, a little less than a year actually. Seems he took his scholarship and cleared through all the classes just to get a piece of paper as proof of his intelligence. We can only assume that they'd met somehow and became co-workers after that." Violet couldn't help but wonder if things had gone a little differently than that, but if he put that much effort into hiding things, she'd never find any evidence. She examined the picture for several more moments, enthralled by Mirage's otherwordly beauty. Even at half her age she had the look of something exotic and untouchable; At least to anybody else.

"Moving along, both of them kinda fell under the radar for a few years. An island was bought under Pine's name, but the location wasn't specified. Somewhere between college and age twenty, the kid made millions. Whatever happens after that as you know, is nothing but history. I'll admit it, Vi. The guy's a mystery." Violet nodded, remembering well her near-death experience by plane-crash and the events following her discovery of Mr. Incredible's new arch-enemy. This recollection made her stop for a moment to take in the fact that she was dating the very person who wanted nothing more than to kill her only a few years ago. When had that intention strayed? Violet ignored the fearful feeling creeping into her chest, writting it off. _People change. _

_But what has changed, Violet? He's still a villian and you seem to keep forgetting that._

Content with the information she'd recieved, Violet left Tim to his work and went about her own rutine. It wasn't until a bit later in the afternoon that she'd recieved a phone call from the very person she'd been researching. A slight feeling of guilt overtook her as she let out a meek and pathetic, "Hello?"

"Doing anything tonight?"

"Not that I know of. You're not gonna ruin a good night's sleep again are you?"

"We'll see. I've got a lecture to attend here shortly. Kinda feel like getting out afterwards."

"There's an amusement park not too far out of the city."

"There are some things that even I'm not crazy enough to try..."

"Don't tell me that roller coasters scare you." She smiled to herself as he cleared his throat nervously.

"Pleading the Fifth, babe. Dinner?" The agreement was made and Violet was glad that it was Saturday which would leave her mother out of the worry-zone for the weekend. Hellen didn't bother asking why Violet was giggling to herself as she changed into a new outfit and strode out the door without a word to anybody. The idea of someone who regularly used rocket boots being terrified of amusement park rides was just too funny.

An hour or two later the raven-haired girl stared at her burger nervously, unable to pretend that nothing was wrong. Even that small bit of information caused her to look at the red-head across from her with a different view. Had his family life effected the way he'd grown up? Perhaps Mr. Incredible hadn't been the only circumstance involved in who he'd become. It didn't seem to matter what she said or did; he appeared to know her better than she knew herself.

"Is your food that bad?" Buddy blinked down at Violet's burger, looking suddenly untrusting of his own meal. She shook her head.

"Just thinking, that's all."

"About?"

"I'm disinclined to aquiest your request, Mr. Pine." The look on his face nearly caused her to smile.

"I'm pretty sure I told you already-"

"Big words for the lawyers, I know."

"Doesn't really answer the question, though." He smiled, munching on a set of fries he'd ordered and looking entirely pleasant with the idea of 'getting out' and escaping his phone for even a moment. She sat across from him in silence for several long minutes, looking for the words or the right way to formulate what she wanted to ask...

"Do you have any family at all?" It wasn't a question he was expecting to hear and it wasn't a question he was willing to answer. Instead of letting the silence continue, Violet elaborated on her question. "I mean, most people by this time have at least had that 'meet the parents' moment, but-"

"Just Mom, she doesn't live around here anymore." He interjected, hoping to end the conversation quickly. Violet accepted the answer, but another question burned from the very core of that. The picture she'd seen had a father as well and she wanted to know what happened to him, but there wasn't any way to present it without giving away that she'd been snooping. "Honestly, everyone seems to think that a smart kid must have some brainy parents or something. I assure you that everyone is perfectly normal. I don't live with a family of murders or scientists or whatever. And speaking of meeting the parents, about yours."

"You know why I can't do that." She sighed, glad to have pushed off the subject of his family. Her own was understandably dysfunctional and there was no way in hell that she'd ever tell them about who she was hanging out with on the weekdays or saturday nights. The ensuing chaos would be more than either of them could handle and Buddy appeared to be in agreement to a thought she hadn't voiced. "They wouldn't get it."

"I don't really get it either." He shrugged, munching on another bunch of fries before continuing on mid-chew. "On to something more interesting. I'm gonna be out of the country for a few weeks, so don't expect anything exciting." He stated matter-of-factly as if going overseas was hardly a big deal. Violet however was the first to raise her eyebrows.

"What on earth are you going there for? Where at?" She asked excitedly. He blinked.

"Moscow. Meeting a friend." She smirked, head tilted over her fry.

"Business? Or Pleasure?" She laughed, munching down on her food. He seemed to think about the question for several moments while pushing some uneaten food around on his plate. Buddy smiled, winking wickedly.

"Bit of both, truthfully. I'd take you with me if I could get away with it, but things being as they are.. well. I'm sure you'll come to forgive me." She nodded, and the conversation moved on once more. As usual they talked about nothing at all and enjoyed each others' company until Violet decided that it would be a good time to return home. She recieved a lingering goodbye kiss and promises that she'd be missed before they'd parted ways.

"So, who's the mystery dude?" Dash had entered Violet's room while she'd been organizing her room after her outing. She'd stopped dead, twirling around to examine her brother's sly smirk. Over the last few years he'd grown to become a slimmer version of their father with an ego that could compete with Syndrome's worst days. She sighed, head shaking.

"What makes you think I have one?"

"You've been acting all gaga and doing that hair thing."

"I am not." She blinked, eyes falling towards her hands which played with her hair. They flew down to her sides, caught in the act. Dash rolled his eyes. Violet shrugged. "So maybe I am, but it's not your business anyway."

"It's mom's business. You know how she is."

"And you won't tell her unless you wanna get kissed by your sister in front of all of your friends!" She threatened, and the look in Dash's eyes was enough for her to know that the plan had worked. He cringed violently, dusting himself off from the thought.

"When did you get so evil?" He whined. While the question posed hadn't been serious, it made her pause for a moment. Dash was finished with his inquiry and returned to his room just as quickly as he'd appeared, leaving Violet to ponder to herself. Was it possible that someone with evil intent could rub off on a hero like herself?

No such thing seemed to be happening, but as she lay down for the night the thought occured to her that her opinion of Buddy Pine had changed dramatically over the last month. She'd had him pegged for a typical villian when he was everything but. When it came down to it, she didn't really consider him evil at all. Stubborn, maybe. Determined for sure. There was more behind the persona that was projected into the public. He had the ability to be thoughtful, and had a magnificant sense of humor which usually ended up in some kind of goofy display that would shame someone half his age and leave her rolling around laughing. He wanted so badly to live a somewhat stable and normal life, and much like Violet was very much deprived of it. Not because of Syndrome's antics, but because Buddy Pine was such a well-known name. It seemed as though fame had its disadvantages.

_Holy crap. I think I just fell for the bad guy. How typical._


	7. Caught

_I appologize for the length of this chapter. There's just so much going on that I can't seem to break it apart decently. At least what was at first a plot-less story now has some direction. _

* * *

><p>Admittedly, Violet couldn't be more thanfull that she was getting a break from her relationship. For once, she didn't have to skirt around her parents <em>and<em> fight off a menace who hadn't let up even a smidge since the beginning. It was getting more difficult to keep things quiet. Buddy Pine wasn't the kind of guy who could walk down a city street without being noticed, and Violet's presence was causing some folks to ask questions. That very occurrence was what had caused the situation that she found herself in only a week after Buddy had left on his vacation.

Now, she stood in a dark room with several FBI agents as Incredigirl. Her father stood nearby, and the whole situation felt awkward. Thankfully this situation was not about her. The Incredibles had recieved a call from the people they now stood beside about a certain Mr. Pine and an unusual trip he was taking. They were convinced that something fishy was going on, and since this family seemed to understand him the best, it was only natural that they'd be interested. Violet wanted to be anywhere else in the world.

"He's pretty damned careful. Hasn't traveled alone in the entire week we've been surveying him even if it looks like there's nobody around. Not surprising, considering what he's trying to sell." The FBI agent sighed, flashing several pictures onto the monitor. There was Buddy Pine beside Mirage, and not long after a few pictures snapped of him having coffee and a pleasant conversation with another man.

"Anthony Barahov. He's a large part of a Russian mob, has had contact with Pine recently, and almost a year before this trip." Violet tilted her head at the picture of the man sitting across from her estranged boyfriend, eyes narrowed as she attempted to figure out where she'd seen him before. He was a tall man, slender but formidable and very well dressed. It was then that she'd stifled a gasp; it was the man from the party! The attending officer had heard the sound and turned his head towards her, tilting it curiously.

"Is there something the matter?" He inquired.

"Oh! Nothing. I Just thought Moscow looked pretty in the fall, that's all." She stammered quickly, realizing immediately that she'd made a mistake. Not only the officer, but her father's eyes were on her now, entirely too suspicious for her liking. Had it been that obvious? She cleared her throat nervously, attention going to her nails now instead.

"How did you know where this was?" The officer raised an eyebrow as Violet froze on the spot, eyes closed and searching for another quick answer. She had no idea how Buddy found lying so easy; she could hardly get the words out in a formal fashion. The stares she was getting wasn't making the situation any easier. She gulped.

"Must've mentioned it a while ago, I guess. I'm going to get going, have a lot of work to do today." She stammered, immediately vacating the area. Unfortunately, she realized immediately that someone was following her, and his voice caused her to sigh. This wasn't going well at all.

"What aren't you telling us, Violet." Her father's voice was stern, and she knew that if she turned around, the entire lie would fall apart.

"Lucky guess. Can I go now?"

"Not until I get the truth out of you." That was it, she was caught. Violet took a deep breath, closing her eyes and turning around to face her father. She frowned deeply, hands on her hips and giving a fake, exasperated sigh. Mr. Incredible's eyebrow raised, but she continued right on along. _Now or never._

"Alright, I admit it. I've been watching him too. I did some research and figured out where he was going, just wanted to make sure he wasn't getting into any trouble. Isn't that a super's duty, to keep an eye on the bad guys?" The argument must've been valid because it had left Mr. Incredible speechless and Violet swallowing down any further words that could mess up her elaborate tale. Her father shook his head, nodding in agreement to it and patted his daughter on the head.

"I suppose so. That being the case, you'll be extremely useful to the operation they've got going on here, then." Her face immediately became pale, and breath caught in her throat. Operation? What had she just accidentally volunteered herself for? Without any extra adieu, she was ushered back into the room she'd previously been in, and the "operation" was described to her in detail. They wanted to get into his office building and find whatever schematics he was hiding. Apparently the mission was vital to the country's security and of course Incredigirl would be the perfect person for the mission since she knew so much about Mr. Pine! She could do little but agree, and by the time nightfall had reached Metroville, she couldn't believe that she was standing outside the building she'd only ever looked at from a far distance.

All ten-thousand employees had vacated the premises, the very last three wandering out and locking the doors behind them. Violet a computer hooked into her car and a camera trained on the individuals doing the lock-up. There she and the FBI agents involved observed the three people chit-chatting their night away and activating the world-renowned security system built into a building that should've been labeled as a fortress instead of an office space.

"Not only do you need a credit check to walk in the doors, it looks like you need to be a ninja too. Can you guys decode this mess without tripping the alarms? How many security systems does one building need?" Violet muttered, listening to the banter of the agents on the other line as they tapped out possible solutions. Her computer sprung to life not long after, mapping out a path for her to follow.

"Pine's office is on the 15th floor, we'll figure out how to get in when we get there. We've taken out the cameras and heat sensors on the first eight floors. The front doors are unlocked now; you should be able to walk right in." Violet nodded to herself and adjusted her earpiece, walking out of the car and towards the area they'd instructed her to go. Just as stated, the door was open.

As soon as she made her way into the main foyer, her mind was blown by how huge the place really was. It was a miracle that the employees didn't get lost trying to find their desks! The whole place was reminiscent to Nomanisan as Violet recalled it. Very sleek and commanding, much like its owner. A further look at her surroundings showed more cameras than a bank and an unusual black box that she pointed out. The agents assured her it was nothing, and she continued her ascent through the winding corridors.

Once she'd reached the eighth floor, things started getting complicated. It was different than the last few in that the rooms were sealed off now, and not full of cubicles and working areas. It was most likely where they kept the important stuff, she guessed. However, red beams of light ran across the room in odd patterns, and while Violet knew she couldn't be seen, she'd turned invisible anyway, passing along the lines as carefully as she could for the next seven floors.

At one point during her travels, she could've sworn she'd heard a sound, but when she'd spun around to face it, there was nothing. For the rest of the trip, Violet couldn't shake the feeling that she was being followed or watched intently. When she'd finally come to the CEO's office, by that time she'd wanted nothing but to go home and forget she was even participating in something like this. If Buddy had ever found out about what she was doing he'd be far less than pleased and she didn't want to know what kind of wrath she'd end up suffering because of it. Violet took hold of the door's handle and tipped it sideways, surprised that the door had been unlocked. Had someone been here before her? Pushing all doubts aside, she walked in and had a look around.

Compared to the rest of the building, this room was relatively small but had a beautiful view with full glass walls rather than standard windows. Scattered around the desk at the center of the room were several glass boards whose writing glowed an unearthly blue in the darkness. Upon closer inspection, it was Buddy's own handwriting on various different agendas and equations. _Call Mom. Well isn't that cute, _she thought to herself. Violet finally moved towards the desk, listening closely to the instructions.

"The computer isn't obvious; it's actually the desk itself." Violet blinked at the glass tabletop, moving around to where the chair was settled and running her hand along its surface. Immediately it jumped to life, causing her to jerk her hand back. It was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen! For a moment she wondered if he'd created it himself, but the thought didn't last long because her instructions were coming in quickly. Before she could get far however…

"Don't move." Her body froze at the sound of his voice; it was ice cold, calculating, and in the same room with her. Violet chanced moving her eyes up from the desk and up towards the direction she'd heard the sound. Sure enough, Syndrome himself appeared from a shadowy corner of his room, but from the look on his face he didn't recognize her from that distance. "Step away from the equipment, if you'd be so kind."

"_What's going on, Incredigirl?"_

"I've got to commend whoever's idea this was, it's a pretty gutsy move trying to break into this place. What were they looking for?" It was around that time that Violet had moved into just enough light to be recognizable. This caused Syndrome to forget the questions he'd been asking and tilt his head sideways, lost in the moment. "And they send Incredigirl to do their dirty work. What a pleasant surprise. This changes everything."

"_Get out of there! Save the conversation for later!"_

"Oh, um, hey! I was just looking for you…" Violet sputtered, but it was clear that her rival didn't buy it at all.

"Three hours after closing?"

"And you're here! So I guess I came right on time!" She giggled nervously. Instead of moving directly at her, Syndrome began a vulture's route, making sure that nothing had been disturbed during her visit. His eyes never left her, however, and their piercing gaze caused her far more anxiety than she would've liked. What was going to happen now that she'd been caught? The agents continually told her to run for it, but she couldn't hear them over the sound of her own heartbeat.

"Care to try again?" He smiled, working his way over to the computer that she'd vacated. She watched it spring to life once again, greeting its owner and opening several folders and locations that she couldn't make out well from her vantage point. Syndrome's eyes ran over the information quickly and shut the system down. He set his elbows up on the table, fingers steepled with a devious expression on his face at her lack of immediate response. "You're a terrible liar. Who sent you?"

"I wasn't sent anywhere!" She replied a little too quickly. He stared at her for several long moments, blinking. "It was just me." Again, Syndrome didn't buy the answer and immediately got to his feet. He traveled the distance between them in less than a moment, reaching up towards her face. She was frozen in place and for a moment it appeared as though he might try to get romantic, but instead Violet was left to cringe as the ear bud she'd put in was removed.

"I wonder who this could be, then." He hissed quietly, setting it up for a listen. After a few moments of expressionless observation, he nodded and crushed the piece between his fingers and tossed it over his shoulder. "And who might be listening in, I wonder." Again he came uncomfortably close to her, obviously searching for something that would be too small to find to those who weren't looking. Before she could understand what was going on, she was pulled into an unusually romantic kiss (unusual considering the circumstances), but it was ended as quickly as it had begun… and then she realized what he'd done. She cringed slightly as he removed a small metal object from his mouth, observing it with a terrible grin.

"Next time, get a warrant." He whispered into the device. The agents on the other side sat wide-eyed as their only other connection to Violet had been compromised. Mr. Incredible could do nothing to gather his sanity back up, knowing that his daughter had just fallen into the hands of the person who'd wanted nothing more than his death for most of his life. It had only been a short debate to decide that he should save her from the death trap he'd just lead her into. That is, if he could get there on time…

"Relax, babe. I'm not_ that_ scary, am I?" Syndrome chuckled at Violet's pale form which had only just then begun to regain its color. He flipped the lights on, motioning towards a nearby chair. She took a seat without argument, and he plopped down into his desk chair.

"How did you know I'd be here?" She asked meekly.

"Those FBI morons have been chasing me down for years, this isn't exactly the first time they've been in here. It would only make sense that they'd use someone who had strong knowledge of the place or the person running it. Just so happens that person was a super this time around. Just a shame that they'll never realize that there are some things that I won't even tell **you**." He winked, fiddling with his computer-desk. Several see-through screens appeared before him – Violet assumed them to be e-mails – and he read them quietly until he'd come to the final one. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"What?"

"Best day of my life, and I almost missed it!" He exclaimed, clawing through his desk drawers until he could find the phone that he'd left there to take messages while he was out. Seconds later a number was dialed, and he was on the other line with someone she'd heard him chatting with before in the past.

"How could you miss something this important, man! Do you have any idea what this means! Damn right, that's what it means! This is why you're the best. Thank me later." He took a moment to glance over at the girl in the chair not far from him, blinking and adding to his conversation. "Oh, and do me a favor, would you? Set me up with a room for tonight, top floor if you can. Gonna need to be up early to close this deal. Just text the info when you get it, thanks." After that, the phone was hung up and Violet was still looking entirely lost.

"Did I miss something?" She asked, suddenly unaware of the situation she'd just been in. Syndrome smiled, looking as though he might dance across the floor at any moment. Instead, he rolled his chair around towards her giddily.

"Waterston closed on the deal. Techna-co is officially sunk."

"But doesn't that mean—"

"It means that I've officially privatized the country's weapons sector." The two sat there, staring out of the glass windows while Violet took in this gigantic piece of information and Syndrome enjoyed a moment to silently revel in his success. He peered over at her thoughtful face, smirking. "What do you say we go celebrate?"

"You realize my parents think you've kidnapped me, right?"

"Maybe I have!" She suddenly laughed, shaking her head lightly. Syndrome was on his feet by that time, looking just about ready to walk out the door. The phone that he'd asked his assistant to text him on buzzed and he'd answered it, flipping it around for Violet to read. She squinted at the lettering, eyes widening. "Is this here nice enough for a hiding place?"

"You're joking, right?" Violet exclaimed, plucking the phone out of his hand and looking twice, just to be sure. That was the place alright. "It's the nicest place in the state! There's a four year waiting list! How did you—"

"Have you forgotten who I am already?" He grinned proudly. She was still in a state of shock as he'd moved to lean over her, hands on the arm-rests, nose-to-nose and looking too devious for his own good. The offer was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and Violet knew that. The fun factor was undeniable, but even so. Before she could open her mouth to respond, the two of them turned their heads towards a sound a floor or two down and Mr. Incredible shouting Violet's name.

"Looks like your rescue team is coming," Syndrome smiled to himself, turning back to her. Violet's expression turned immediately to that of worry, and her eyes wandered towards the door that her father would barge through at any moment. The proper thing would be to go to the people looking for her, what she was considering was madness!

"I can't just leave them—"She was silenced by a finger on her lips, and the very same finger tilted her head so that their eyes met once again. He leaned in close, muttering into her ear and causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.

"_What's the craziest thing you've done lately__?" _She peered at him once again, weighing the options. Her father was getting closer by the moment, and Syndrome was starting to move away. There was no way he'd get caught within striking distance of Mr. Incredible. Violet closed her eyes, taking a breath. She smiled, taking off after him just as the door smashed open, leaving her savior with nothing but an empty room and no trace of anybody except for the smashed communication devices on the ground. He cursed, spreading the bad news to the agents and Violet's mother.

Just like that, a simple break and enter turned into a manhunt.

There she was, on the run from everybody and nothing on her face but a bright smile and eyes lit up with the excitement of the moment. The two of them had snuck back into Violet's home for a change of clothes after they'd run by Buddy's apartment, and after that was nothing but insanity for the remainder of the night. Dodging spotlights, vanishing from the view of those who might recognize them; she'd never had so much fun in her life, regardless of how much trouble she was causing herself.

It wasn't until nearly two in the morning that they'd both stumbled stupidly into the room Buddy had reserved earlier, and although she'd had a drink or two at the local bar they'd dropped by on the way, she was still completely taken away by the beauty of the place she was in. It was a full blown apartment-type room with a rooftop view that she'd immediately run out to enjoy. Buddy had lingered behind, content to lean on the railing and enjoy the skyline.

"This is amazing! I could live here! Could I live here? I would totally live here."

"Bit too much for one person, don't you think?"

"Not a chance!" Violet giggled, and out of reflex had decided to check her phone for the night. As expected, there were no less than dozens of phone calls from her family, which had been enough to sober her up momentarily. The plastered smile had turned into a dismal frown at the sight of them, and she didn't even want to bother listening to the messages. Thankfully the option to do so was taken away from her as Buddy slid over and plucked the device out of her hands, tossing it over the side of the building.

"They'll get over it."

It was all that was said between them for the rest of the night. Her better, less inebriated half knew that she shouldn't allow what was to follow, but this night was one of throwing caution to the wind. Maybe a little insanity wasn't such a bad thing. Unfortunately, her biggest mistake had just gotten that much bigger...but she wasn't concerned. Not tonight at least.


	8. Mornings Suck

_Hope you enjoyed the cute, snuggly couple for as long as it lasted. Time for their lives to get complicated! Short chapter ahead!_

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><p>He'd sat on the edge of the bed for a considerable amount of time that morning. After straightening the tie and tying his shoes it was only a matter of deciding if he should wake up the sleeper. Finding nobody there when she opened her eyes could easily lead her to believe that he'd just bailed... but she was so cute sleeping like that. While he was debating with himself she'd woken on her own, blinking rapidly and trying for a moment to remember where she was.<p>

"What time is it..." Violet muttered, trying her best to ignore the all-too-familiar feeling of a morning hangover. Buddy tilted his watch which she squinted at with a frown. It was only six in the morning, what in the hell was he doing up already? As if on queue he yawned tiredly, patting her head.

"The guy won't go down without a fight. The bastard knows I hate mornings, so when does he schedule the deal?" He grumbled quietly, answering several messages while Violet made sense of it all in her slowed mind. So much for the night never ending, and things going right back to how they were. She eventually nodded, but didn't attempt to get up. Truthfuly he didn't feel much better and the idea of breakfast was nearly an impossibility with the company he'd be in shortly. Put on a professional face for a few hours, get it over with. "Stay here if you want, can get back to kidnapping you properly after this stupid meeting." She opened her eyes just long enough to catch his expression and the two of them sniggered at how rediculous it sounded.

"Don't know how I'm going to explain this to Mom. I should probably be getting back soon." Violet sighed, pulling the pillow out from under her and shoving it over her head while Buddy shook his head. He'd never met such an obedient child in his life. Instead of fighting the ultimatum he snatched the pillow away from her. She shouted, sitting up and trying to grab for it. "If you've got a right to go to work then my parents have a right to know that I'm alive!" She countered with a whine. He enjoyed being an ass for a moment, leaning in to set a tiny kiss on her cheek before tossing the pillow back and rising to his feet. Buddy brushed himself off and headed for the doorway.

"You should try giving them the truth. Just to throw them off a little." She'd gone back to sleep after he'd left and re-awoken to her stomach's disagreement with last night's forray. She should've known that the shots were going to be a bad idea, but the hell with it. If she was going to run from the police, she was going to drink underage, break some laws and have a damn good night. And what a good night it was. All doubts or thoughts about what that day would be like were finally swept away and Violet was pleased to be able to say to herself that she hadn't been disappointed...except for the whole 'work' thing. Just because she understood didn't mean she was happy with it. A shower and some munchies later and she was ready to head home. Thankfully she'd remembered to keep her supersuit packed away for this very situation, and that's what she walked in the front door with.

"She's home! Oh God, Bob, she's here!" Helen exclaimed, throwing herself at Violet. Bob was there only moments later along with Dash who's expression spoke volumes about his agreement with her decision. Violet did her best to stave off as many questions as she could, but her parents didn't seem interested in resting until knowing exactly what was done to their precious daughter.

"He thought he wanted to do a hostage thing, then changed his mind and just left me there.. what an idiot." She gave them a fake sigh. Neither of them looked like they wanted to buy such an excuse but much to Violet's relief both Helen and Bob had been pulled away by a phone call from the agents that had left her in last night's mess. Dash rolled his eyes at her and she frowned.

"You're scaring them, sis. It's not worth it." She would've argued the point if Helen hadn't come back and insisted that they both take a seat. Violet rubbed her head, doing as she was asked. She could have never expected the next words that came from her mother. This time she meant business and getting out of it wasn't going to be easy.

"Violet, what's really going on here?" She spoke softly, out of earshot from her father.

"There's nothing going on, Mom." Violet muttered, rolling her eyes. Helen wasn't convinced. Her daughter's expression went from annoyed to slightly unsure of herself, and that was all the proof that she needed.

"You've been covering Syndrome's antics up for months, sneaking around late at night, and now you get kidnapped and say that nothing happened last night. I'm not stupid, Violet." She was spot-on and the fact that her mother had been able to point him directly to everything impressed and scared her. Violet took a breath, wishing she had the ability to care less like her villianous counterpart. There was a time and a place for everything however, and against Buddy's not-so-sound advice, she decided that this was not that time. Helen read her daughter's expression like an expert, taking her hand. "Whatever he's been telling you is a lie, Violet. Just because they say something, doesn't make it true and Syndrome's track record speaks for itself."

"Maybe it would matter if you weren't completely wrong!" She countered. Helen sighed. She hadn't wanted for things to go this far...

"Get some rest, Vi. We'll handle Syndrome from here on out."

"I can handle myself!" It was like a slap in the face to the young super, having her most difficult adversary taken away like that. The argument went nowhere however, and ended in Violet storming back to her room in tears. Bob had finished his conversation with the agents some time before the end of the conversation and found his way to his wife's side, flipping on the television.

"Speak of the devil." He muttered as the two of them shifted their gaze towards the goings on televised over the screen. The reporter was covering Mr. Pine's aquisition of Techna-co. The CEO sat on one end of a table with his assistant while the old Warterson sat across from them in a calm debate with his own people. Eventually both rose to their feet and shook out their deal which lead to a mass of applause and further reporter jabbering. Bob glowered from his chair and Helen sighed.

"Just what he needs. A few more billion dollars to put into upgrading those omni-droids." Helen muttered. Bob shook his head and rose to his feet, picking up his jacket and putting on his shoes while his wife said something about Buddy Pine having a marvelous day in a sarcastic way. Bob's eyes narrowed as he headed out the door.

"Not if I have anything to say about it."


	9. Personal

_It seems as though Mr. Incredible has taken this situation pretty personally. Shall we see how events unfold?_

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><p>Buddy's meeting had ended several hours after it had started and once the press conference was over, he couldn't have been any more pleased at the idea of having at least a short period of time to himself before the next day. It had taken a bit of convincing to remove the personal assistant from his side, and taking all the phone calls himself had proved difficult. Buddy had left his office as always, taking the very same route home on foot; one that wouldn't connect him with news reporters and paparazzi. It was the most current phone call that was giving him some trouble as he rounded a corner. "You'll have that report on my desk by friday if you value your job. Less excuses, if you please."<p>

Bob had waited patiently halfway down his enemy's walking path, and that patience had paid off. If Buddy hadn't chanced a look to the side as he was walking, he might have missed the man completely. He stopped dead, but his conversation continued right on along. The un-masked Mr. Incredible took several threatening steps forward, but the businessman didn't stand down.

"Now you list-"

"Woah, woah!" Buddy put his hands up in the air, taking a step backwards from Bob's finger attempting to jab him. "Put a finger on me sir, and I promise you and your little family will be sued right back into hiding again." The super paused, considering this threat carefuly. He wanted badly to snap the shorter man in half and call it a day, but murder was hardly the answer or the appropriate measure. It was bad enough that he was breaking the identity barrier here, so he stepped down with a malicious glare. Buddy smiled pleasantly, suddenly thankful for being who he was. "Now that we're clear with that, what can I do for you?"

"You can stay the hell away from my daughter." He growled. The shrewd expression of his adversary was enough to make him second guess deciding not to hurt him.

"So I take it you've heard about that, then. She really is a nice girl-"

"She has no permission to go anywhere near you."

"Harsh, Mr. Parr."

"You wanted to make it personal?" Bob cracked his knuckles. "We'll make it personal."

"Excuse me but if you're not aware, I'm the one being cornered in an alley."

"And about to get reminded why you don't cross certain lines."

"Did you already forget what I said a minute ago?" Buddy tilted his head and while his outward expression was nothing but confident, a small part of him wondered if he'd come out of this conversation alive. If he died today all of his assets would go to Mirage and there was no way in hell that she'd take care of his last will and testament of showing Mr. Incredible a lesson in manners. Gathering up his personality, he sighed dramatically. "Listen, Mr. Parr. I hate to inform you that once someone reaches legal age that their parent's 'permission' no longer applies. Or in this case, two years older than that even. That asside, I had no part in it."

"Who are you trying to fool?" Bob spat, advancing forward.

"Not you, obviously." Buddy rolled his eyes at the larger man's threats. "That is the honest to God truth, Parr. If you're going to run around accusing people of things, you really should get your facts straight. Your sweet little daughter is the one that came to me."

"You're a lying son of a-"

"-With a lot of money and friends here you don't have them. What's your point? I have no reason to be dishonest."

"What did you do to her?" He demanded, but only a smirk would follow.

"You really don't listen well."

"I swear-"

"Swear all you want, Parr, but you're asking the wrong questions and pointing the wrong fingers."

"That so?"

"What you should be asking with deep concern, is what she did to me!" Before Bob could open his mouth to respond the villian's phone had begun to ring. Buddy put up a finger to silence anything his adversary might decide to say and answered the phone. "Do you like the term 'mass-exodus'? I do. Pull some strings, that's what I hired you for. Better yet, call Nick. Call him again! If you want things done right you do them yourself! Look, Mr. Parr," Buddy looked up from his call at the increasingly angry father, smiling. "As much as I value this moment of being able to meet the parents, I've got a pretty busy schedule to keep. Maybe we can meet up for lunch sometime." The businessman skirted his way past Bob, continuing along on his path towards home and leaving Violet's father to stare after him. He turned back towards his own home, head shaking.

While in the car, it took everything he had not to bend the steering wheel or take it off the dashboard completely. Every part of him had been hoping, praying that everything going on was purely coincidence, that Syndrome really didn't have a hand in it. The way the conversation had gone raised a reasonable doubt, however. It was true that Buddy Pine had no reason to lie. Saving his own skin was hardly an issue anymore. While Bob hated to admit it, he had indeed grown up and matured a lot in a short period of time. While he chose to remain a villian, much of the child that Mr. Incredible had met had all but vanished after Syndrome's last brush with death. But what about Violet? She was adamant that nothing was going on when it was clear to him that something WAS going on. To what extent he had no idea, but more than part of him didn't want to know the answer.

"How did it go?" Helen had asked the moment her husband had returned home. His lack of response caused her concern. "You didn't hurt him, did you..."

"I wish I had." He grumbled, plopping down on the couch and rubbing his temples. "She needs to talk."

"I've already tried, Bob. I'm scared, damnit! We can't keep her inside forever and we can't do anything about a guy who owns half of Metroville! I can't help someone who doesn't want to tell me the truth! Where did we go wrong? She doesn't even understand how much danger she's put herself in..." Helen sniffled, dabbing her eye with a nearby tissue. The only thing he could do was hold her tightly and maintain the ominous silence that remained for the rest of the night.

Violet meanwhile had finally calmed down and spent most of her night staring up at the ceiling. It was the vibration of her phone that had caused a temporary disruption in spacing out, and the voice on the end was all too familiar and hardly welcome since she'd spent the majority of the night attempting to forget it all.

"So I hear you're grounded," Buddy said sarcastically. He was back in his own apartment and preparing a fast and extremely late dinner for himself. When all else in life fails you, Ramen comes to the rescue. Violet sighed and rolled onto her side, letting the phone sit on her ear.

"You'll have to kidnap me for real if you ever want to see me again."

"That can be arranged."

"Be serious, please." She huffed, rolling her eyes.

"I'm being serious. Do you honestly think a little roughing up is gonna change my mind?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, right right. Had a little run-in with Daddy earlier on my way home, forgot to mention it." He spoke nonchalantly and sat down at the nearby table while Violet repeated his words and expressed a long string of concerns. He'd managed to munch through half of his plate before getting another opportunity to talk. "It was nothing. Have all my limbs and the ego is still in tact. Hun, if I were affraid of the guy I would've quit the bad-guy business a long time ago. More importantly, we've gotta think of some way to break you outa there."

"Even if I did leave, I wouldn't have anywhere to stay."

"Could always hang out here. There's more than enough room for two."

"And confirm their suspicions? No thanks." She sighed, rolling onto her back again and staring at the ceiling as before. Silence fell between them for some time while both tried to come up with a solution to her problem. Buddy finished up his noodles, and by the time he'd spoken up again, she'd almost forgotten that she was still talking to him.

"Can I ask you something?" Violet couldn't distinguish the nature of the question on inflection alone.

"I guess."

"What is it about me that scares you so much?" She was caught off guard and couldn't seem to find an answer immediately. Sensing this very problem, he decided to elaborate on the meaning. "I'm pretty sure I've made it fairly clear that I'm not hiding anything, you obviously plan to keep this whole thing going regardless of the circumstance, mom and dad have defininately figured you out, and yet you're still trying to play off the whole good girl thing. I may be a damn genius, but even I can't wrap my mind around why you don't just quit trying to pretend like nothing's going on."

"It's not about you at all."

"Not at all?"

"A little bit."

"Just a little, huh."

"Would you quit with the interrogation already? I know how stupid I am for doing all of this, for even talking to you right now! I'm a super, Buddy. I'm supposed to be saving people! Not sneaking around with some strange guy that I hardly know anything about! And a villian to boot, my father's arch-enemy for god's sake! I want things to work out but at the rate it's going..." She stopped dead, swallowing her next words and allowing him time to take it all in. The redhead had moved from the table to a nearby couch, feet up on the coffee table and a drink in hand.

"What do you want to know?"

"What?" She blinked.

"I can't tell you anything if you don't ask."

"Where the heck is your family, for one."

"Why is it such a big deal?" He countered immediately, as she expected.

"I don't know, Buddy. Why IS it such a big deal?" She countered, leaving him silent for several moments.

"I leave my family out of my affairs. That's why." Violet thought about this for a moment, eyes downcast as she sat up and brushed her hair back. Her entire family was supers so there weren't any secrets between them, but perhaps it was understandable that he didn't want mom knowing that her son was an ex-murderer selling weapons underground to fund his villianous tendencies. The thought caused her to suddenly feel bad about inquiring about his family at all.

"I guess they don't know about me, then."

"No she doesn't. Not yet." He corrected her.

"Yet?" Violet tilted her head, eyes narrowed.

"If it's such a big deal, we'll go tomorrow and get it out of the way." He could've sworn that he'd heard a slight gasp on the other line. The raven-haired girl's eyes widened in disbelief and a nervousness overtook her. She'd get the opportunity to actually meet the lady in the photograph. What would she even say to the woman who raised someone like Buddy? Did she know anything about her own son at all? That he was famous, even?

"H-how did you plan on getting me out there?"

"Was that a stutter?"

"Had to cough."

"Right. You've got classes tomorrow, yes?"

"So what?"

"Ditch 'em." Thankfully he couldn't see the aghast expression planted onto her face.

"You can't be serious."

"So you can run from the police but you can't skip Stupidity 101?" Unfortunately he hadn't thought before he opened his mouth which lead Violet to cry out angrily. He didn't bother appologizing, however. The point had been made and she'd muttered to herself for several minutes before agreeing on his rediculous plan. They'd said their goodbyes and hung up after that, leaving Violet to sit and think about everything that had just transpired. The whole relationship thing had been a joke to him and that had been clear from the start, so where was all of this sudden thoughtfulness coming from? And whyfor? A stupid mistake that had gotten out of hand was leading up to a day she never thought she'd see. _Maybe it could work after all..._


	10. Past

_It's been brought to my attention by a fellow Job Corps-er that I've got a few continuity errors in my story! However, this was already meant to be somewhat of an AU story to begin with. Take THAT, continuity! Anyway, looks like Violet finally gets what she wanted. Will she be disappointed by what she finds? _

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><p>Violet had hardly been able to sleep knowing what she was about to do the following day. At some point during the night she'd finally drifted off, only to be rudely awakened by her alarm clock at what felt like only moments later. She'd pulled on her clothes in a haze, packing her bags as normal. Exhaustion had made avoiding her parents' gazes easier. Violet had walked out of the door with a piece of toast in her mouth and the car keys in her free hand; What they didn't know was that she'd had no plans of attending her classes.<p>

Violet sat on the stairs outside of the college, reading the book she'd been assigned to. She waved to her friends as they passed, smiling as pleasantly as she could. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long for her escape to show up; Buddy had shown up right on time. Violet packed up her things and climbed into the front seat, tossing her bag into the back and muttering her 'good mornings' to a driver who had obviously had no trouble sleeping at all. Before she could start on any kind of conversation however, a drink and some snack food had been dropped into her lap.

"Settle in, it's gonna be a long trip." Buddy muttered over towards her.

"You could've mentioned that earlier...I would've packed." Violet yawned, buckling her seat belt as the college disappeared from view. Buddy reached over to turn on the radio to a local rock station, and before she could help it, Violet had felt herself drift away into a peaceful nap. Several hours had passed before she'd been awoken by a favorite song. Violet sat up and had a glance at her surroundings; Metroville was nowhere in sight, and it was nothing but country as far as the eye could see. She sat up, stretching out.

"Where are we going anyway?" She spoke softly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Welcome back. Next state over, not even halfway there yet."

"Wouldn't it have been faster to fly there, then?"

"Felt like a road trip. Haven't taken this baby out of the garage in forever." The vehicle he referred to was pretty fancy indeed, but hardly close to what he could afford if he really wanted it. She was somewhat surprised that he wasn't rolling around in some ridiculous 'drive themselves' things she'd seen in commercials not long ago. Oh, technology. Roomy inside, at least. Violet's eyes fell towards the scenery outside, watching the cows and horses they passed. In that moment, it was nothing but the music and country road... and it felt great.

"I guess it's nice to get away once in a while." She smiled to herself.

"Away from the damn city..."

"Away from damn parents!"

"Away from damn work!"

"Away from being a damn hero." Violet sighed, rolling down the window and letting her fingers flow along with the wind. For the first time since she was forced to defend herself and don the superhero identity, she felt free. She rolled her eyes after noticing Buddy's curious expression. "All you're expected to do is save people from themselves. Where's the thanks? It's just.. ugh. I'd kill for a life like yours. To just grow up normal, have normal friends, a normal life, a normal job..."

"You don't want my life, trust me." The response was unusually serious.

"There's people that would kill for what you have!"

"And I'd kill for what THEY have." She couldn't understand for even a moment what he was on about.

"Like what? What on Earth do they have that you-"

"A family, for one." He interrupted. "A halfway decent childhood and a normal school life, hell, even HAVING a childhood would've been great. Growing up on the same street and being able to keep some friends would've been nice. You don't know how lucky you are, not being kept up at night by shit you can't un-see and wondering what life would've been like if you hadn't killed some guy." Buddy cut the sentence off abruptly, perhaps realizing that he'd said more than he'd wanted to. Violet fell quiet, watching him drive. The lively radio DJ kept the silence filled until he chose to speak again, softly. "You don't want my life."

"She's not your mom, is she." She couldn't believe what she'd said, and immediately covered her mouth.

"Not according to the birth certificate."

"I didn't mean-"

"I'm not stupid, Violet. I know when people are trying to figure me out. Like Tim said, it isn't cheap to hide that much stuff." As Violet realized that she'd been caught, the tension between them thickened dramatically. She didn't know what to say or how to apologize. She felt like that shy thirteen year old all over again being told by her mother that the real world wasn't as nice as she'd always thought it was. Sitting beside her was living proof that the world was far from perfect, and she was twenty years too late to save him. Despite all of this, he appeared to be calm and collected. She nearly jumped out of her skin when he spoke again. "I got the bastards that did it."

"Does.. anybody know about that?"

"Just you."

"Buddy?"

"Hm?" He didn't take his eyes off the road, and neither did she.

"We don't have to do this.. not if you don't want to." When she chanced a look at him, he was smiling.

"You mean turn around and go back to work? Not a chance. And besides," Buddy reached over for violet's hand and squeezing it lightly before hitting a button that pushed the top off the car. With his free hand he put on a pair of sunglasses and hit the gas. "You're right. It's nice to get away once in a while."

The rest of the trip was spent joking about anything and everything, skipping over the radio stations and singing to songs as loudly as possible (a roaring version of Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' nearly ran them off the road), and driving far faster than the legal limit. Cities and towns passed them by, along with the 'thanks for visiting the state' sign. Although reluctantly, he'd even let her drive for a while; the GPS was giving directions, so getting lost was hardly an issue. There was nothing but love for the snoozing red-head while the road finally gave way to civilization again.

"Almost there, wakey wakey!" She tapped him, chuckling as her hand was swatted away. Eventually he came back to the real world and the two of them had swapped spaces during a red-light, much to the other drivers' humor. Buddy had called to let the lady know that they were close, and by the time they'd finally pulled into the home it was nearing late-afternoon. It was at that time that Violet's heart jumped into her throat, having then realized what she was about to do. What if she messed it up? What if this lady wasn't what she was expecting?

Violet took a breath in as she saw the lady in question step out onto the porch of the fairly decent sized home, waving enthusiastically out at the two car-dwellers. Buddy smirked down at Violet. "Now or never." He removed himself from the vehicle, embracing the lady who couldn't have looked any happier to see him.

"Oh, look at you! I swear you're getting taller every time I look at you! That hair is ridiculous! Are you eating okay, it's been so long! How's that job of yours? Oh, and you brought a friend! That's right, you must be Violet!" The mother took her attention away from her son and came for the raven-haired girl, who could only stare like a deer in the headlights. "Such a pretty name! What a pretty girl, come in, come in!"

The rest of the night had been a swirl of dinner and Buddy filling in his parent in on what she'd missed since the last time she'd seen him. In a way Violet was reminded of a doting version of her own mom, perhaps the sweetest lady she'd ever met. Gloria as she found out her name was, sat enthralled at all her 'child' had accomplished, and was practically in tears by the end of it all. "I always knew you'd do great things, I told your father the moment I saw you that you were something special."

"The only eight year old doing algebra, I'm sure." Buddy rolled his eyes at his mother's nostalgic recollection.

"You don't give yourself nearly enough credit, but I suppose you have your real parents to thank for that. They were such wonderful people, very smart too. Would've done so much if not for all that." As if on queue, Gloria produced a small book of pictures, motioning Violet over for a look. She gave Buddy a wary glance, but he'd already shut out what she was saying, appearing only to humor her for this moment. In the book was what Violet had hoped to find during her initial research; there stood two people who looked considerably more like him. While she stared at this new piece of evidence, Buddy stepped outside to take a phone call.

"It's such a shame, really. Their work would've been so good for the world, but someone had to take them away." Buddy's mother smiled sadly, flipping the page to the newspaper clipping she'd taken. "Little Buddy is a miracle, I've always said it. It's a wonder that he made it out safely. He doesn't like to believe it, but I'm sure he's here for a purpose." Violet smiled, noticing how much of his mother he had inherited.

"You must love him very much, Ms. Pine."

"More than I could ever describe, dear. We couldn't have children of our own, so he was the miracle we were hoping for. The poor boy had been scared to death, hardly talked at all at first. Trust me when I say that we were shocked to discover how bright he was!"

"It isn't every day that you meet a guy like him." Violet smirked at the double-meaning that only she understood. At the same time, it saddened her to know that this lovely mother knew nothing of her son's double life. The child that was supposed to change the world did so in a less than angelic way. He'd caused the beginning of a new era, but only by bloodshed and violence instead of coming up with a cure for cancer or something. Violet showed the lady a picture of her own family, snickering at her kind commentary about how handsome her father was, how pretty her mother was, the whole nine yards. How lucky Buddy had been to land in the arms of such a caring lady...for a moment, she wished that Gloria were HER mother!

"I'm glad to have met you, Violet. You're such a sweet little girl. I sometimes worry about him being all alone and so lonely with all that work and nothing to do. I think you're a perfect fit." Violet found herself blushing as a small alarm went off somewhere and Gloria gasped. "Oh! Desert is ready, would you go get him?" The little old lady rushed off to fetch her cooking, leaving Violet to sit there alone. It was only a few steps to the front door and the open air was just what she'd needed. It was finally dark, and the view of the stars from her house was one that she'd never seen before. Buddy hadn't been far off, leaning against the porch banister and finishing off a conversation with one of his assistants.

Buddy had almost jumped as Violet had come up behind him, wrapping her arms around him from behind and dropping her head onto his shoulder tiredly.

"Did she talk your ear off yet?" He muttered quietly.

"You're supposed to come in for desert." She smiled. He peered at his watch.

"Right on time." When he went to move however, he found himself stuck on the spot.

"Thank you." Violet whispered.

"For?"

"Everything."


	11. Sacrifices

_Honestly, this is not the direction I planned for the story to go in, but sometimes you've just gotta go with the creative juices and see what comes out of the other side! It seems like the sappy loving part of their relationship has come to a close, and the reality that they don't always get along is forcing itself upon everybody._

* * *

><p>The following weeks were hectic for the girl-hero. After several heated arguments with her parents, she'd finally decided to move out on her own. Her dead-end job was hardly good money, but it was just enough. Violet had had to move everything on her own, but at least Buddy had been able to help her un-pack once she was settled in. He'd offered his own place up more than once after examining the state of the apartment but she'd vehemently refused. Who cared that her boyfriend was a bazillionaire, she wanted to fend for herself! Buddy didn't bother to argue the point but did insist that the extremely necessary repairs were on him...and so it was. Violet's hero work resumed, and Buddy's work kept him behind a desk so often that he had a difficult time finding anything to be pleasant about.<p>

"You need a vacation or something." Violet had muttered from her place on her apartment floor. She'd found the carpet to be an extremely comfortable place to lay and watch television on boring days, which left Buddy with the whole couch to mope around and look miserable on. He'd rummaged through her fairly baren medicine cabinet not long before that in search of some headache medication to overdose on and now wanted nothing more than to punch something or fall asleep for a week; whichever came first. He groaned at her mention of vacation time.

"Transitions always suck. Need to find desk space for new employees, re-train everyone and sort out EVERYTHING. I'm working for two people! What I NEED is a co-op, but like hell if I'd trust anybody around here to do the job right." Violet tilted her head upside-down to examine the red-head behind her. He sighed, taking one of the couch cushions and covering his face with it.

"So how much longer are you gonna complain about it?"

"Forever?"

"I'll stop inviting you over here. All that bad karma kinda ruins the mood." Violet smiled, tilting her head back to where it was. She ended tilting it back just as quickly, however.

"Excuse me for trying to keep my damn company together." He muttered from underneath the pillow. Violet's eyebrows furrowed and she flipped over on to her stomach.

"Hey, it was a joke, relax!"

"Does this look like the face of amusement?" He glared hard at her, throwing the girl for a loop at a mood that had made a full swing from lightly annoyed to fully upset. Violet sat up quickly, glaring right back. Like hell if he was going to walk all over her because of a stupid bad day!

"Don't you dare try to take your stupid work out on me, okay?"

"Not okay, and that 'stupid work' just happens to be a lifelong endeavor."

"Sure is a waste of life if this is what it does to you!"

"Oh pardon me, miss perfect attitude." He rolled his eyes, and she pointed right to her front door. He couldn't have looked more insulted at what she was suggesting. Was she really kicking him out?

"Find something constructive to do!" She said through gritted teeth, clearly hurt. He wanted to argue it, tell her off, say something really mean. To just put him out after something as stupid as this went right over his head. Be it from a lack of understanding or refusal to do so, he did as he was told, but not pleasantly; the door was slammed behind him along with a "Great freakin idea!"

Violet felt awful almost immediately after he left, and had been tempted to chase after the angry man with apologies. It wasn't very often that her nerves got so tense, and this time she prayed it hadn't cost her something very important. But wait a minute! This wasn't even her fault! Why should he be mad at her for his own damn stupid attitude? She growled from her spot on the ground, and immediately looked for something to cool herself off. It turned out that angry cooking was the answer to her troubles. Two cakes, a pie, a plate of cookies and some diner later, Violet found her happy place in a sugar rush. Forget that stupid guy. She had deserts to last for a week if she didn't gobble them all down tonight! Television and cookies; perfection.

Unfortunately for her, the news wasn't pleasant. Buddy had found his outlet, and it was causing a robotic riot in the middle of downtown Metroville. The reporter was watching from a distance and she could just barely make out her father amid the chaos. This was well above and beyond Syndrome's typical methodology. Violet realized with a sigh that she'd have to go and help fix this. The cookies would have to wait, Incredigirl to the rescue... again.

While this attack hadn't been pre-meditated, Syndrome had loved the way it was turning out. He wandered along the empty city street at a pleasant gait, his omni-droid tearing up any building it could reach right beside him. It was like taking a murderous dog for a walk, and the destruction was just what he'd needed to brighten his day. He hadn't really been expecting any particular super to swoop in and save the day, but the sight of Mr. Incredible was just as good as any other. Instead of barreling at the monster however, the super-strong man had made a bee-line towards its creator. Syndrome's rocket boots had carried him away just in time and Violet's father had gotten caught up in zero-point energy and flung into an adjacent building.

"Playing dirty today, are we?" Syndrome barked at the man as he recovered from the slam. Mr. Incredible found a nearby item, sprinting towards it and flinging it around and towards the sound of his enemy's voice; It had missed Syndrome by barely a margin, causing him to go tumbling. He slid along the pavement for a moment, using the momentum to get back on his feet with a terrible grin.

"Hope you're feeling lucky," Mr. Incredible growled, eyes flicking towards the omni-droid that was temporarily distracted by the extra help that had arrived. "It's just you and me now, and we need to have a little talk."

"Right after the dance." Syndrome hissed, picking up another object - a nearby car - and causing Mr. Incredible to dodge for his life with everything he had. Trucks, buses, light posts, anything that could be easily removed by the energy. To catch the flying objects would be ridiculous at the speed they were moving, so all he could do was get as close as possible, doing everything to knock off Syndrome's aim. It was the strangest juggling show that Violet had ever seen, but her attention was kept by the omni-droid going insane well out of range of their mini-battle.

"So what's the talk about, Daddy? Gonna tell me that I've been a bad boy?" Syndrome taunted the super, tossing a mail-box and rocketing out of the way of a returning car. The exchange went on for several more moments before Mr. Incredible was finally able to get in close enough to be heard.

"I'm going to ask again what the hell you've done with my daughter!" He demanded. It was true that Violet had made no attempt to contact her parents after she'd moved out. They had no idea where she was or who she was with, and the only person with a clue was the flying madman in front of him. Syndrome cackled, attempting to hit Mr. Incredible with the beam and picking up a fire hydrant instead, which he promptly flung.

"Could you be any more dense?" And that was as far as he'd gotten. The exchange of large items began again, and Mr. Incredible doubled his efforts, hoping to win the fight by simply wearing the non-super out or running him completely down. As far as he was concerned the techno-geek was as good as dead on this day. There was no more talking.. from now on, it was nothing but action, and he didn't give a damn what rules he had to break to get this stupid kid to suffer. He'd almost broken their family apart once before and there was no way he'd be allowed to do it again. Not this way.

Unfortunately their private affair had been broken up by the arrival of Elastigirl and company. The omni-droid had been taken down; it was time to deal with the bigger problem. Syndrome weighed the situation for several moments, then acted. A zero-point energy beam hit the newly arrived Frozone, and he was flung straight into Elastigirl, causing them both to go tumbling. He was expecting the speedy boy to appear at any moment, and was able to stop him short with a lucky blind shot. However, he'd had to turn his back to do so...and hadn't noticed Mr. Incredible picking up a particularly large car to fling directly at him...

"Look out!" He'd heard the warning too late, eyes moving over his shoulder just in time to see his life flash before his eyes and Mr. Incredible's cry of surprise. Syndrome cringed from the impact, fully expecting to be done for... but no such thing happened.

"Incredigirl...?" Elastigirl had hardly gotten the name from her mouth. Syndrome opened his eyes, chancing a look above him. The car had hit a force field and bounced harmlessly off of the villain. He'd never seen such a force close up, and took several moments to take it all in before finally turning his gaze onto the one who'd saved his life with an expression caught somewhere between thankfulness and shock. Violet on the other hand looked frightened by her own actions and even more so that her family was standing on the other side of it all with looks of disbelief. Once Syndrome had gathered himself back up, his eyes fell onto those who'd attempted to kill him, cold and calculating.

"Does that answer your question?" He grinned.

"Incredigirl, you can't...!" Elastigirl forced the words forward as the force field around Syndrome finally fizzled away. Violet shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I won't let you..."

"You're not one of them!" Her mother countered immediately. Mr. Incredible attempted to move towards her, but a force field was put directly in his way. As long as Syndrome stood between them, she refused to let him take another step. The red-head in the meantime had adopted a rather smug smile. Violet didn't notice this at all, sniffling on the spot where she stood.

"I don't know what I am anymore, but you won't hurt him."

"You don't know what you're saying!" Elastigirl refused to take this as an answer, or even a result! Her daughter wasn't being stolen away to the other side! Not if she could help it! "He tried to kill you! Tried to kill ALL of us! He doesn't deserve to be saved, and you know it as well as everyone else!"

"I don't care!" Violet hollered, then turned her gaze upon Syndrome, tears now flowing freely. "Go. Away." She hissed, pushing a force field at him and nearly knocking him off his feet. He didn't have to be told twice. Without further ado he swept his cape behind him and strode away from the scene without a word to anybody; he was thankful that he didn't have to get involved in the family feud that was likely to ensue. He'd pay her back for such an honorable act on another day, perhaps.

"You don't have to do this, Vi... We're here for you! You know how much we love you. I can't stand to lose you to someone like that!" Elastigirl looked about ready to fall apart at the idea of losing one of her children. Even Dash, who hadn't been taking much seriously until this point was now realizing the severity of the situation at hand. Violet, a villain? It was unthinkable! Violet however, would have none of it.

"Someone like what, mom! You have NO idea who you're talking about! Maybe if you'd ever get to know someone before judging, you'd realize that they're not so bad! Good? Evil? It's not that simple! And it's always been that way with you two! Attack now, ask questions later... I'm sick of it, Mom!"

"You don't know what you're saying-"

"I know exactly what I'm saying!"

"Violet, come on and come home. I won't fight my own daughter.. I can't! Don't do this!" Mr. Incredible practically begged, but it would do no good. Violet backed away from them, head shaking slowly. Her body fizzled out of their view for a moment, looking much like a weak hologram.

"You're going to have to... I'm sorry, Dad." All she could remember after that was tears, and the sound of the pavement as she ran as fast as she could. Away from them, away from everybody. The day that every super dreaded, that time when they had to make a decision, had finally been made, and she couldn't help but feel as though her biggest mistake had just gotten even bigger. And to think, it had all started from some stupid innocent fun.

_I love you, Mom... Dad..._


	12. Dead

It had taken Violet a considerable amount of time to calm herself down that night. All the cookies in her house hadn't been enough to quell the girl's sudden depression. She should've let him die for doing something so stupid but instead she'd jeopardized her own career to bail him out. The whole thing had happened so quickly that within her own mind, she couldn't decide if the action had even been voluntary. The truth of the matter, however, was that she'd done it, rationalized it, argued it. Just like that, she'd turned to the side of evil...without doing a single evil thing. Violet wiped her eyes and took a bite out of the last cookie on the plate as the phone rang for the fifth time in a row.

He'd attempted to call her several times but all had gone unanswered. It hardly mattered since he was already en route to her residence, but the lack of a response was worry-inducing. Wait. He stopped dead, midway down a hallway to take it all in. This was ridiculous! There was a time when he could've just walked away from all of it and felt no worse for the wear. When did that change? It was just another girl, after all. _A girl that just saved your stupid life. Congratulations for thinking of someone other than yourself for once, genius. You're really losing your mind now._

He sighed to himself, continuing along the path towards his destination. It wasn't much longer before he'd arrived, knocking the door in until she'd been forced to answer it. He'd already been frowning at the sight of her looking so disheveled, but the frown had deepened as she'd nearly lost it right there in the doorway.

"Go away! This is all your damn fault!" He could only stand there while she made a feeble attempts at beating him down with her tiny fists, calling him every terrible word she could conjure up in her mental dictionary, cursing the ground he walked on until her words were little else but garble and her sobs overtook everything else. Buddy had managed to lightly guide her into the apartment so the tenants wouldn't overhear. There were few times in his life when he'd sincerely felt like an ass, and this was one of those times. Violet had finally lost the will to continue with her already weak battery. "Why.. why does it have to be this way.."

"You're asking the wrong guy, hun."

"It just isn't fair."

"Preaching to the choir, dear."

"Want some pie..." She sniffled, shuffling into the kitchen to fetch her utensils. Buddy stood there for several moments wondering if he even had the right to be there after all that had happened. He'd quietly agreed however, and the two of them had sat on the couch with plates of pie in one hand and forks in the other, looking too miserable to eat. One bite at a time the air had cleared, but the reality of both their situations was still permeating everything. When she'd had the strength to speak again, all he could do was let her rant.

"All my life I've been told to protect people... innocent people. I'm supposed to save the people I care about. I should care about the innocent people, not the guy blowing up half a damn city for the funsies. I'm not one of the villains, I can't be...but I've been lying to everyone for months. I've been sneaking around and worrying my mom and dad sick. I did what was right though... you don't deserve to die. You're an idiot but you don't deserve to die. Why don't you care about your own life?" She'd asked the question while he'd had his fork in his mouth, and he'd paused like that for several long moments. He'd never really thought about it that way. This was the second time he'd put his life on the line, and the second time he'd narrowly avoided death. He hadn't thought about what would've happened if she hadn't saved him, what he would've been leaving behind.

"I don't really know what I care about," He muttered, biting down on the fork while he spoke. Violet kept her eyes on her plate, letting the words sink in.

"Do you care about me?" She whispered, praying with everything that she hadn't wasted months of her life, time in school, her whole superhero-dom. She could feel her chest tighten as a silence crept between them while he looked for the appropriate way to answer. Well, do you care or don't you?

"Enough to know that my hobby isn't worth losing your career over," Buddy replied softly, scowling to himself. Syndrome was a fun little side-project, that was true. It didn't mean nearly as much to him at this time as it did five years ago. He'd only ever existed to prove to the supers that powers weren't everything, that as special as they thought they were, they could be brought down by mere engineering. He'd wanted to teach Mr. Incredible a lesson, and Nomanisan had succeed in that. Now? He was there for his own selfish reasons. It was a good way to blow off steam and remind the other villains that Syndrome was still top dog; they never bothered to argue the pecking order for fear of becomming the next lucky target. "...And neither am I."

Violet turned her eyes upon him sharply. She was unable to comprehend the meaning of his last words. Not long after his words had changed to actions, leaving her to enjoy the moment and forget everything else. Beyond the kisses and sweet nothings, it didn't matter. Violet made her decision when she'd made her mistake and for his sake, she would live with the consequences. She had decided that well before he'd shown up, regardless of the outburst. The feeling was short-lived, though. She'd hardly had a moment to register his whisper of "I'll miss this," before he'd removed himself from her presence. She sat up quickly as he stood up from the couch and let himself out the door, and was quick to follow.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about?" She'd repeatedly asked him all the way to the street and the question had been obviously ignored. It wasn't until she'd shouted at him as he stepped into his car that he'd finally peered up at her; the distance in his eyes had shocked her into silence.

"I'm fixing this."

"Fixing wha- wait!" The car tires squealed on the pavement, leaving Violet behind to stare after the tail-lights. Just like that, a night of anger turned to fear of the unknown. She had no idea what he was on about. Without thinking she'd hopped into her own car and sped after him. He wasn't going home. Throughout the trip she couldn't help but recall that look that sent a shiver up her spine. It wasn't long before the path before her had suddenly becomming obvious; they were making a bee-line to her parents' house. Buddy's car had come to a stop in front of the Parr residence. Violet was still several blocks behind and hadn't seen him remove something from his car and walk up the driveway, ringing the doorbell and coming face to face with Dash.

"Mom..."

Helen had come to the door to greet whatever guest may have appeared. Buddy let himself in while the two of them stared at the man who looked entirely too business-like. He had moved himself over to the family couch by the time the realization that he was there hit her. A briefcase sat precariously upon the coffee table, and he spoke before she could react towards the scene in front of her. Bob had walked in the second he'd opened his mouth.

"A girl saves a man from death and is punished for it. Tell me how that's fair, Parr." Buddy directed his question towards Bob who, if he hadn't been so shocked by his presence, would've already beat him into a fine pulp all over the carpet. Violet's father stood there, eye to eye with his self-proclaimed nemesis, and could think of no response. "I've gotta commend you on your excelent parenting and upholding the finest of double standards."

"Where's Violet, you basta-"

"I'm right here." she appeared in the doorway. Helen ran immediately to embrace her daughter and Bob remained suspicious.

"In a perfect world, mom and hubby would stay the hell out of my way, and there wouldn't be such a thing as 'good' and 'evil', not in such broad terms," Buddy continued, commanding the room's attention. "Unfortunately, no such place exists outside of a tiny island on the east coast. It's clear that I'm not allowed to have what I want, so I'll do everyone a favor and make it right for at least one of us."

"What are you on about, Pine." Bob took a threatening step forward and Violet nearly attemted to leap out of her mother's arms to keep him at bay.

"It's simple, Parr. I quit. Syndrome is dead."

"Wait, what? No!" Violet shouted, but Buddy wasn't paying her any attention at all. At Bob's clearly skeptical expression he had reached forward to click open the breifcase, exposing its contents to all surveying. All pieces of his outfit were laid out neatly, ready to be taken away.

"And what makes you think I'd believe this." Bob growled. Buddy sighed quietly, removing one of the electronic gauntlets and hitting Bob with the zero-point energy at point blank range. Hellen shouted towards her husband. The red-head raised an eyebrow at the person he'd caught. He rose to his feet, moving until he was merely inches away from his rival. The super could do little else but stand there, frozen, while Buddy finished his monologue.

"This is one-of-a-kind equipment, Parr. Everything here has been modified, re-invented and updated, but never duplicated. I'm giving you my greatest invention along with half a life's work and a lot of damn good memories. Do you still have the audacity to call me a liar?" He hung on the last words, staring the super down with a seriousness that Bob had never seen. He finally released the energy, replacing the device to its proper place in the case. Violet's father hesitated on revolting against the 'attack'.

"You're not going to do this!" Violet demanded, and her voice was finally acknowledged.

"You're right about my work. It's not worth doing if this is what it does to me."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Under normal circumstances I would've left the sappy last words to somewhere more private than this, but I've got places to be. I've caused you nothing but misery for the last few months, and it was stupid of me to expect a super-hero to understand the complexities of my life or my work. You're here to save people who deserve to be saved, Violet, and I'm not one of those people."

"Don't talk like that..." She argued weakly, but what he'd meant about missing her earlier was finally starting to make sense.

"You're serious, then." Hellen confirmed.

"Consider this our 'official breakup'," Buddy muttered. Violet wanted to find the words to argue, wanted to say something, anything to keep him there with her for just long enough to change his mind. Unfortunately before she could find those words he had removed his phone from his pocket, dropping onto the floor and smashing it underneath his heel. "The proof that I gave a damn is in the PSA's possession. Lose my number."

"Buddy..." Her words fell on deaf ears however. Buddy Pine had removed himself from the home and gotten back into his car, speeding off towards whatever meeting he was expected at, assuming he'd even told the truth about that. Violet was left to stare at the smashed phone on the carpet in front of her, tears welling up in her eyes. Almost half a year had been wasted on a relationship that ended in less than an hour. Both her parents and her brother embraced her tightly. She was secretly happy to have her family and her life back, but the feeling would forever be bittersweet.

_Things were back to normal now. The day was saved... but nothing would ever be the same. For now, anway._


	13. Plans

From the perspective of the city of Metroville, things had gone back to normal. All that was destroyed had been rebuilt and the following months were like any other. There had been no announcement of Syndrome's retirement; he had simply disappeared. The word spread like a wildfire underground, and for several months proceeding the 'word on the street' there had been something of a power struggle to make up for a missing villain amongst their ranks. Only the super community had breathed a sigh of relief. No more omni-droids or zero-point energy or rocket boots to deal with, finally.

Syndrome hadn't been the only person to vanish from the public eye, however. It seemed as though even Buddy Pine had disappeared. Pine Industries and Techna-co had finally made a successful merge after several months of power struggles and legal issues. It was announced that Mirage would be promoted to the co-owner that Buddy had desperately needed to stabilize his company. Occasionally The Incredibles family would see her working on a case with the PSA, but for the most part it appeared as though she was far too busy with her new line of work to be bothered with 'super' duties. Mirage had turned out to be an excelent representative, handling most of the press conferences, which left Buddy more time to do what it was that he did best.

While her sudden breakup had been devestating, Violet had found the strength to move on. She'd completed her college courses, graduating with her friends. Instead of her dead-end hot dog stand job, Violet had decided to start her own little diner on a quiet corner right next to the Metroville park. With the help of her parents and hiring Dash, she'd become her own little mini success story. She had remained single and pleasant about it, living her own somewhat quiet life in the very same appartment she'd had since moving away from her parents. Much to her parents' pride, she had also officially separated from her family's super party and now did vigilante work on her own.

For the most part, Violet's life was peaceful. She liked it that way. Until a particular day when she'd turned on the news. It had been a good day at work and she'd celebrated by plopping down on the couch and flipping through the channels. It had been this one that had caught her attention, however.. and caused her to look at a calendar immediately.

"We'll be having our fourth annual charity ball come next Thursday, and we're very excited." Mirage smiled pleasantly from behind a podium, announcing the location and time. Behind her, much to violet's misfortune, stood a particularly shrewd looking businessman who knew exactly how to smile for the camera. Some of the fire had been lost from his gaze, but he was still very much alive. Mirage had turned to converse with him for a moment before Buddy had swerved around her and tapped the podium mics, smirking.

"Gonna be a hell of a party, see you all there." Violet sighed, watching the screen blankly. It was almost exactly a year now since she'd begun her little masquerade with the man who was walking away from the cameras and presumably back to work. The minute he'd stepped away from the press, the phone was right there on his ear again. She tried to ignore the feelings that were creeping back, all those things that she promised herself she'd never miss. For a moment she wished she could talk to him again for even a moment, just to be sure that he really had been there. Violet closed her eyes, taking a breath... and then she picked up the phone to talk to the person who had likely seen the program as well.

"Mom? I'm gonna do it."

It was a huge celebration much like the last one she'd attended. The man from Russia that had been on the FBI pictures was there along with several other faces she'd recognized. Again Violet ended up finding herself at the punch bowl and unable to make conversation with so many people. Again she found herself wondering if this had even been a good idea. This time however, she couldn't find the person she was looking for. Perhaps he was getting better at blending into a crowd...

"I certainly wasn't expecting to see her here tonight." Mirage took a sip of her drink, peering down at Violet from a third floor balcony. She wore a stunning evening gown, reminding Buddy of Yvana White for a moment as she turned to smile at him.

"Are you going to tell me who you're talking about, or smile at me all night?" He replied tiredly. His feet were up on the table of the booth he'd been sitting in and he held on gently to a cocktail glass that was already half empty. He looked hardly pleasant about being there, and where they were now was his best attempt at keeping invisible and away from the guests. Mirage raised an eyebrow, turning around entirely and leaning back against the rails.

"Miss Parr."

"Very funny."

"See for yourself then." She shrugged casually, turning back around and taking another sip of her drink. "Are you going to greet your guest or mope around all night?"

"There's nothing to say."

"There's plenty to say. In fact, I think I might say hello myself."

"Knock yourself out." Buddy muttered, knocking back the rest of his drink. Mirage turned around again and strode towards him this time, taking the glass out of his hand and setting it on the table gently. She handed him her own unfinished glass, tisking at him.

"You two have quite a bit in common as I understand it. One of those things is the inability to give up on anything. I'm surprised that you'd be so willing to throw what may be your last opportunity to the wind." Mirage shrugged, starting down the stairs. "But then again, she's just another girl."

By that time, violet had decided to help herself to the punch bowl and have a little snack since there wasn't much else to do. She caught a view of Mirage while she was halfway through a cookie, raising an arm to wave meekly. It seemed as though at least one of them had caught on to the plan. Mirage smiled pleasantly, not at all phased or bothered to see someone who wasn't supposed to be at the party.

"How have you been, Ms. Violet? It's been some time since we've been able to work together."

"I've been okay. I can't imagine how busy you've been, how is everything?"

"Things are calming down quite significantly, actually. It's a welcome relief, that's for sure. The other half of the company, however, could be having a better day." She chuckled to herself, pointing out Buddy's location. He'd moved to the railing, but his gaze was held elsewhere. Violet gulped nervously and turned away immediately in an attempt to put herself back together. Mirage shook her head.

"I really hope you don't plan on leaving without saying anything." She placed a hand on the raven-haired girl's shoulder, feeling them stoop as she sighed quietly.

"I wouldn't even know where to start..." Violet muttered.

"How about 'Hello'?"

"It's not that simpl-" Violet blinked suddenly, whirling around towards the voice that hadn't been Mirage's. Buddy had descended the stairs while her back was turned and now stood only feet away.

"Right when I thought my night couldn't get any worse, there you are." His words had bite and hit her immediately. She knew at that moment that showing up had been a mistake. However, instead of removing her from the party or walking away, he rolled his eyes and tilted his head, signaling for her to follow him with an expression that felt far too serious for her tastes. Before she could really take in the fact that they were in the same room together again, they'd ended up on the very same roof. Instead of an argument however, they simply stood there silently. She found it hard to even look at him even though he was staring her down.

"What happened to you?" She spoke softly, breaking the silence.

"I grew up, just like Daddy always wanted." He muttered. She assumed he was referring to her father who had constantly complained about that very thing during their rivalry. Violet finally took the courage to give him a once over, head shaking slowly.

"You hate it, don't you."

"Nobody said life was fair."

"This whole thing was my fault," Violet's shoulders slumped and what appeared to be a metal case appeared in her hand, as if she'd been hiding it. With a single step she handed it over to Buddy, who took it with a raised eyebrow and popped it open to view the contents. Sure enough, it was his gear just as he'd left it. "I know that won't fix anything, but I thought you might want it back even if you never end up using it. I just -I'm sorry about all of this, Buddy. If I'd known how it would end up, I would've never..." She wiped a small spattering of tears from her eyes, her words falling off somewhere.

"Best few months I ever had." Buddy tilted his head, still peering down at the box.

"I just had to go ruining it all..."

"Pretty good kisser, too."

"The whole thing was just awfull." She sniffled again, hardly hearing a word he was saying.

"I might just have to ask you out again sometime." He mused with himself, suddenly in a slightly better mood than he'd previously been displaying. Violet shook her head negatively, wiping her eyes again.

"You've already got a girlfriend."

"Who told you?"

"It isn't cheap to hide stuff, but not everything is hard to find." She sighed.

"Right. But for how much longer?" Violet looked up, expression turning towards confusion and slight dejavu. What on earth did he mean by that? She didn't have to ponder on it for long though, for he'd already been on the verge of sending out a text message. Less than seconds had passed before a cheerful ring tone had passed through the phone. Buddy gave the phone a warry glance and flipped it open carefully. Violet's eyes widened as he held it at an arm's length, cringing away from the sound of a viciously angry woman screaming on the other line.

"What the hell are you doing?" Violet demanded as Buddy walked away toward the edge of the building. He let the phone slip from his hand and fall to the pavement twenty floors down with a simple, "Bye, sweety."

"No! You call her back right now! You're not doing this!"

"With what phone?" She glared at him angrily, digging her phone out of her purse and shoving it in his face. Unfortunately, she realized her mistake immediately as the device was plucked daintily from her hand and dropped over the side as well. The innocent look on his face was humerous, but she was in no mood for jokes.

"Woops. Slipped."

"So much for growing up."

"I'd like to think I can do better."

"Are you going to fix my phone?" Violet stared angrily at the person who did little else but grin at her. Without a wait, he turned on his heel and began back down the stairs. Violet followed quickly behind, wondering if he ever planned on answering the question. That was an important phone, after all! When she'd finally tried to inquire again, he didn't turn around. By that time, they were nearly back at the party and she could already hear the music filtering up the stairs.

"Better than that..."

* * *

><p><em>Enjoy this shiny cliffhanger while I work out the details and find another computer to borrow to write out the last chapter. Celebration, it's my only fanfiction outside of one-shots that I've ever finished! *Pops the bubbly* Have a great *hiccup* day!<em>


	14. Proposal

By the time they'd re-assimilated to the party, Buddy had another drink in hand thanks to a passing waiter. Violet took one for herself as well. She was dying of curiosity by this time, but he refused to say any more. Instead, they ended up dancing to a particularly catchy song. She tried not to feel like she was in a 'save the last dance' movie before one of Buddy's affiliates had come upon them and interrupted.

"Oh, Miss Violet! Lovely to see you again!" The man in the suit said. She recognized him as the man from Russia and smiled as pleasantly she could. It seemed as though the man had an incredible memory. Or perhaps Buddy had talked about her during his trip. Even the idea that she might've been mentioned caused her to blush. Violet joined into the conversation where she could and Mirage appeared not long after. She looked thankful to have this moment of kind conversation; Violet could only guess that the estranged ex had called her as well.

"And that's when I said, 'That's not a motherboard, you idiot! That's my mother!'" A few drinks later had brought forth every corny joke the group could think of. They sat around a table away from the dancers. Even Buddy found himself chuckling at a few of the really bad ones. Several other people had joined the table that Violet had recognized from before as well. Regardless of the fact that she wasn't supposed to be here, she felt welcome and almost at home. For a moment it as was if she'd never had that last argument with Buddy at all. Hell, maybe it was the liquor, but he was surprisingly bubbly considering the night as it had happened.

"Hey, hey. We need a toast." The red-head finally spoke up, and the group fetched up their drinks with a roar of approval. Violet snickered, raising her nearly empty glass.

"To the best damn party in Metroville." The Russian smiled, and the table agreed.

"To the greatest, brightest group of co-workers in the world." Mirage nodded, and the table agreed.

"To a successful future!" Said another and again, the table agreed.

"Now, a lot of you that have been around for a long time probably know that I'm a little crazy." Buddy grinned, and the table groaned. Mirage rolled her eyes, putting her hand on his glass and attempting to push it down.

"There you go with the monologues!" She laughed.

"Hey now, humor me for a minute!" He whined, slipping his glass out of her grip with chuckles from the crowd. "You all may have seen some pretty bad times, but this girl," He pointed down at Violet, and she immediately blushed from being picked out. "I guarantee she's seen the worst. She showed me how fun insanity could really be and I almost let it get away." The table let out a collective 'aww' that embarrassed her senseless. She hoped that he could see how much she hated being the center of attention, but it seemed as though his monologue hadn't ended. "I asked you a question once. What's the craziest thing you've done lately?"

"Listen to you ramble, so far." Violet muttered softly. The crowd toasted their drinks to that, laughing too hard to drink at first. While they were distracted, Buddy leaned in close to her ear with that same terrible grin that she'd seen back in his office.

"It's about to get crazier, babe."

Before she could blink he'd removed himself from the table. Violet looked around to find him but he'd disappeared into the crowd just as quickly. Even Mirage had curious expression. They didn't have to think about it for long. The podium at the front of the party was now occupied by Buddy tapping on the microphone for everyone's attention. The music silenced and the crowd turned to face the speaker. Violet had no idea how he could stand up there in front of those hundreds, possibly thousands of people with such confidence. Perhaps his career of villainy had readied him for public speaking. "How's everything going?"

The crowd cheered happily, and he nodded with a smile. "Great. Thanks everyone for coming, we wouldn't be what we are without each and every one of you. On a little bit of a side note, I promised someone that I could do things better, so here it goes. Violet? Wanna get married?" She would've tried to hide under the table if her heart hadn't leaped into her throat at the question at hand. Now there was an entire party staring at her, wondering the answer to such a sudden question. It looked as though he'd finally shown her how crazy he could get. However, it was her turn now.

"Absolutely not!" She shouted back, shocking the crowd and leaving the man behind the podium with his mouth hanging open.

"That.. was a serious question." He smiled nervously.

"That was a serious answer!" She shouted back, and he clearly had nothing else to say on the matter. For the first time since their first meeting, she'd thrown him completely off balance and the realization was right there on his face. He could've stood up there in neutral for the rest of the night had the floor suddenly not begun to shake. The party was interrupted suddenly by a strange laughter beyond the movement. Patrons ran back and forth away from the villain who was attempting to crash their party. Violet and Buddy's eyes met for a moment as if telling her that he had nothing to do with it.

"You'll suffer the wrath of the Underminer!" The villain had finally made himself known right in the middle of the floor. Buddy could've face palmed and Violet shook her head. He obviously hadn't meant to land in this spot from the look on his confused face. The CEO turned and walked away, leaving Violet unsure of what to do. Her super suit.. she'd left it in the car, thankfully. Not even a moment passed before she'd rushed out the door while the bad guy went on with his spiel anyway. She slammed her car door shut, rummaging through the back seat and changing up as quickly as she could. It wasn't until after she put her mask on that there was a knock on the window, startling her.

"You'll at least consider it, right?" Buddy rushed the question, and Violet sat there with her mouth open. She opened the door at him.

"This isn't exactly the best time for this discussion!"

"Later?"

"Later!" And then she was gone. Violet re-appeared at the scene of the crime not long after, ready to defend against whatever the crazy villain had planned, and he looked happy to see her. They immediately fell into battle, destroying what had once been a beautiful party setup. All she had to do was give the other supers enough time to arrive. Keep the guy busy.

The Underminer had cackled madly during his cat-and mouse chase, pointing an oddly shaped drill-gun at Violet. Before he could shoot however, the gun had been shot out of his hand and skidded across the broken floor. Violet stopped dead as the Underminer gasped angrily. He turned to glare in the direction the shot had come from, and immediately paled.

"S-Syndrome?" Violet looked up as well, smiling.

"You're in my turf, Miney." The suddenly returned Syndrome frowned down at his wrists, making an adjustment to his left gauntlet with a tiny screwdriver and paying very little mind to the shocked and confused villain below. The Underminer began on some kind of scared babble while the red-head-from-the-dead tapped his heel, activating the rocket boots that to his satisfaction, still worked perfectly. "You remember what happened to the last guy, I hope."

"Y-y... We thought y-you were dead..."

"Is that what they've been saying?" He raised an eyebrow, floating gently down to the top of the Underminer's tank. The other villain shrunk back as Syndrome took several steps towards him with a gravely curious expression. "They weren't entirely wrong."

"It hasn't been the same w-without you, sir, but-"

"Cut the crap, Miney, it doesn't suit you at all." Violet tilted her head from her place on the ground. It was clear that he hadn't forgotten his alter-ego at all. In fact, he was eating the whole thing right up. The fact that, even so long after leaving, he could still leave people cowering in terror kept a very amused smile on his face. It also made him happy to know that he'd left such a terrible impact on the way things were run. "I died quite a while ago, Miney. But I was left rolling over in my grave at the pathetic excuses for villainy that were left behind."

"Well, you're the best..."

"Damn right I'm the best!" He replied sharply, his zero-point energy grabbing the cowering man's helmet and lifting him into the air. Syndrome smiled as the lowly creature scrambled from suffocation. "I'm disappointed, Miney! I wanted to retire a happy man, but you and your idiots can't do anything without me!"

"Sh-Sorry..."

"You should be sorry." He tossed the helm and man lightly off the side of the tank. He landed on the ground with a plop, gasping for air. Violet should have broken this up and put both of them in their places but the fact that Syndrome was purposely hamming it up for his own entertainment was just too funny. He hadn't had the chance to be a bad guy in such a long time, she couldn't help but allow him the opportunity to have a little fun. "Old habits die hard, Miney. Would you like them to die on you, or do I get my playmate back now?"

"Y-yes sir..."

"You're a good man. Might wanna work on that." Syndrome sneered as the Underminer stumbled back into his tank and promptly disappeared. This left Syndrome and Incredigirl together, but he didn't seem all that interested in fighting. In fact, he snickered.

"Couldn't help myself, the guy's such a wuss."

"You know I'm supposed to try and stop you now, right?" She smirked.

"I think I may have accidentally saved the day already," Syndrome jammed a thumb over his shoulder at the giant hole in his dance floor. "But you're welcome to try. Take it easy on me, though. It's been a while." He winked, taking off and making the first shot that bounced off of her force field.

"Do your worst." She grinned wildly, vanishing from sight and sending several shots out at Syndrome to set him off balance from the get-go. One particular move she had to commend him on, had nearly knocked the wind out of her. She'd been chasing him up the stairs and he'd charged up the zero-point energy and sent it down the rail, shocking her pretty damn hard. She'd gotten him back with a force field in his flight path which to Syndrome, felt like the equivalent of zooming into a brick wall. What should have been a serious encounter ended in more laughter then pain, however. He ran and she chased, and while the whole thing was exhausting, they were having too much fun to call it quits.

"It's later, did you think about it!" Syndrome shouted over the carnage, ducking out of the way of purple bolts of energy.

"If you're gonna keep attacking me, I'm not so sure!" She smiled as he groaned. She came back down to the ground level where she'd last seen him, but there was no Syndrome in sight. The sudden silence in the room caused Violet to let her guard down for a moment, re-appearing to have a look around. In that split moment she'd been frozen. Syndrome came out from his hiding place in a shadowy area underneath the stairwell, smirking.

"Haven't lost my touch yet," He moved across the open area to the wall she'd been frozen at, peering at her in a creepy-yet-loving way. "Could probably go back full time after a few upgrades. This stuff is dated now." He released the energy and leaned in for a kiss which she moved away from tauntingly.

"The suspense is thrilling, isn't it?" She smirked slyly as he was caught by his own words. Unfortunately this game caused as much torture to her as he stood there and waited for her to give in, as close as he could. "Have you missed it?"

"More than you know."

"Are you sure you want to marry me?"

"Not until you say yes." She let a breath out, becoming more and more uncomfortable with even such a small amount of space between them. All she wanted to do was jump into his arms and go along with it without a care in the world at whoever saw. Why she had to make things so hard on herself was beyond her, but he didn't seem to be having so much trouble. He whispered into her ear softly, and she took a breath in. "What's it going to take, Incredigirl?"

"A proper proposal, for one." The response caused him to cock his head with a look that screamed 'are you serious?'. She smiled apathetically, responding silently to the silently asked question. He pondered for a moment then rolled his eyes and did as he was told. He peered up at her from his kneeling position as if to ask, 'happy now?'

"How does it feel to grovel, Syndrome?"

"That's low." He muttered with a raised eyebrow. "My ego has been appropriately humbled, so are you going to marry me or not?"

"Are you going to fix my phone?" She smirked.

"Violet." Syndrome sighed. He'd get her back for this. Very soon.

"Get up here, damnit."


	15. The End?

_Okay, so I thought I'd be able to end it at that chapter. The ending left me with too many questions that I wanted answered so I present to you the for real (for real) last chapter of "A Little Excitement". Thank you all for sticking with it, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it for as long as I've enjoyed writing it._

* * *

><p>It was as if she'd fallen in love all over again, but this time was different. She didn't worry about sneaking around her parents or if his existed. She didn't care that she'd fallen into the arms of the villain on a temporary comeback high. To love and be loved without thought was the single greatest feeling she'd ever experienced. The two had disappeared from the wrecked party and gone to the highrise car garage next door. Violet had parked her car on the top floor, and the two of them lay on the hood in the clothes they'd worn to the party. Despite the sirens and noise from below, it was a peaceful night.<p>

"One hell of a party, huh?" Buddy spoke wistfully. He was in a state of euphoria from staring at the sky for too long, but that was just fine. Violet nodded, scooting over so she could lay her head against his shoulder. She knew that her parents would be searching for her soon and it would only be a matter of time...but she wasn't running anymore. Unfortunately she wasn't able to hold back the foreboding sigh of things to come. Buddy nudged his shoulder. "Relax."

"Yes, please." Violet closed her eyes as the voice of her mother rang through the night. Buddy tilted his head to gaze at Elastigirl as she passed his side of the car to stand in front of them. "And then explain what happened down there!"

"Miney came for a visit," Buddy answered in a tone that was far too sing-song for her liking. "So she put him down."

"And what is he doing here?" Elastigirl pointed at Buddy as Mr. Incredible joined them. "When you said you were going, I wasn't expecting you to take him home with you. You know where it's going to go already."

"Unless home is the inside of this car, we're pretty far off from there." The red-head retorted before Violet could respond at all. She sat there with an open mouth, aghast that he would chose to take their bad sides so soon. Elastigirl shook her head, attention taken away from Violet and on to Buddy. Mr. Incredible gave a frustrated sigh, knowing full-well what would happen if he laid a hand on this particular businessman. The former villain hoisted himself up to a sitting position. "Are we going to have a conversation like civilized adults tonight or," He gave Mr. Incredible a long gaze. "Is that too hard for you."

"There's nothing to say, Pine." Mr. Incredible replied immediately.

"There is something to say, Dad." Violet finally spoke up, catching his attention. Once it was there, she'd suddenly grown shy and unable to speak. Both parents were focused on their daughter now, eyes filling with worry. Violet gulped nervously, looking around for some kind of subject changer but there was none. Just like that moment at Buddy's mother's house, the phrase caught her. Now or never.

"I'm getting married. Even if you don't like him you're going to have to tolerate him because you're not changing my mind."

"Violet-"

"I thought about it for a long time, Mom. I know he's older than me by well.. a lot."

"I resent that."

"Sorry, but you're going to have to accept it eventually." Violet smiled weakly over Buddy. "And I know there's a lot of history between you guys. Maybe you'll never forgive and forget, but I'm moving it. He's a greater person than you give him credit for, and I'm not just saying it." While Elastigirl seemed to have given up on the fight, nodding apathetically, Mr. Incredible didn't look ready to let it go. Buddy tilted his head to the side, giving the super an expression that he couldn't read.

"Your friends are gonna stay dead, Parr, there's nothing I can do about that. I won't lie and say that I regret doing it, either."

"Buddy, this isn't a good time for-"

"It's a perfect time for it," He interrupted Violet, staring Mr. Incredible down as if he were scanning him for something. "There's no point in apologizing because it goes in one ear and out the other with you. Whatever happened, happened, and it's over. Syndrome's gone. For how long I can't say, you know what that's like." Mr. Incredible put a hand to his temple, trying to take in his potential son-in-law's brutal honesty. There was no way in hell that he'd ever forgive a monster like Buddy Pine. He was the kind of evil that the world didn't need and the supers couldn't get rid of. To be related to it at all was unthinkable. The newly made couple never did receive a response, as Mr. Incredible had then stormed off without a word. Violet sighed.

"This isn't going to be easy." Elastigirl looked after her husband. Buddy nodded, removing his jacket and handing it to Violet who had begun to shiver in the air. She hugged it around herself with a solemn expression. Violet's mother joined them on top of the car's hood while Buddy unhooked his cufflinks and went back to laying back comfortably. "You're going to have to tell me this story someday, Vi."

"Maybe after you meet Buddy's mom."

"You're going to need a dress." She did her best to be happy for her daughter, and Violet tried her best not to cry. For the sake of peace, Buddy even did a halfway decent job of having a conversation that wasn't full of his usual sarcasm and snark. By the time that she had parted ways with her mother, Violet was confident that Elastigirl wasn't nearly as worried about her decision. At least one of her parents understood that sometimes, for inexplicable reasons, things just happened.

"Are you coming home with me from here on out or are you going to stay in that dingy old-"

"I happen to like my dingy old apartment! And besides. It has cookies. Does YOUR apartment have cookies?"

"Why no! No it doesn't!" Buddy gasped, feigning shock and disbelief. She hit his shoulder with a disappointed frown.

"I'll bring some over, then. For now, I'd like to keep my own place and enjoy the peace of living alone for as long as I can." She smiled as he shrugged. There was really no arguing that one. She pulled him into a hug and placed a kiss on his cheek, grinning from ear to ear. "And besides. If I really wanted to be mean, you'd never see me again until after we seal the deal!"

"And they call me cruel."

"Goodnight."

* * *

><p>The wedding had gone by without a hitch, figuratively speaking. They had waited until spring of the following year and nearly cancelled three times in between. Being with a genius wasn't easy when there wasn't an off-switch. Mistakes were learned from over time, and there was a relative peace between the two finally. When the day of reckoning finally came, instead of being a relief, it was the most stressful day of Violet's life. She hated being the center of attention, and when there was a dress and hair and other stupid things to look after, she couldn't get a single moment to sit down and breathe. While Violet had requested a smaller affair, Helen had insisted that they invite as much family as they could...Edna was the woman behind the measurements.<p>

"Too skinny!" She'd said more than once, and it was all Violet could do to simply roll her eyes and put it aside.

"Can we get this over with already?" Violet sighed at her mother, who could only chuckle and hug her gently.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one with that idea." How right she was.

"No, the center director isn't going to do your job for you! Call Rick! Call him twice!" Buddy had found himself pacing around the room like a nervous wreck, taking as many phone calls as he could manage to blow off some steam. A good portion of his staff was there at the wedding, leaving him free reign to terrorize the lower level guys. His personal assistant was sitting in a corner finding the entire thing too funny to comment on without jeopardizing his paycheck. He could tell that Buddy wanted nothing more than to leave and pretend that he'd never come up with the idea of a wedding.

"Remind me to never have another one of these, Nick." He muttered at the assistant.

"Absolutely, sir." The assistant named Nick smiled, getting up from his chair and slowing the groom down as he answered another phone call, brushing a fluffy off of his outfit and making sure it was all straight and neat. Buddy peered into a mirror, brushing a hair out of his face while he entered a heated debate with someone he'd often found himself arguing with. Not like he could get rid of his financial adviser, but man.. one of these days.

"Time to go, you ready?" Nick smirked as Buddy hung up the phone on the girl and threw it over his shoulder.

"I'll never be ready for this, let's do it."

The entire thing had been set outside, and as far as anybody could tell it was going to be a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. The guests took their seats on each side. Dash fiddled with his tie and Jack-Jack was already bored. And then it began. Just as any other wedding, the best men and women appeared where they should be, the groom did a fine job of avoiding tripping over his own feet, and the bride was beautiful enough to make Buddy do a double-take to make sure it was actually Violet. Edna cried over her own creation and then the priest got to talking.

Everything appeared to be going just as planned, though a wind had blown up about halfway through the vows...and by the time they'd gotten to the "I do's", a thunder had been heard overhead. Buddy and Violet peered at each other, then the sky, and back down.

"We're gonna get rained on, aren't we." Violet sighed.

"Looks that way." He replied. The two had hardly gotten a kiss between them before the sky had decided to pour a storm of epic proportions all over them. The rest of the wedding was spent splashing through puddles and rushing underneath tents, laughing like idiots and generally enjoying themselves. The drunken karaoke had been a riot, and by the time everyone had gone home, Violet was sure that past all the stress, it had been the greatest night of her life.

Oh the stories Violet would be able to tell when people looked at the picture of her up-do completely drenched and flattened and Dash's red heart boxers underneath a white tux. Even more memorable than that had been the picture of her father sitting beside Buddy engaged in some kind of conversation, together like a family should be. Sure, things were a little bit strange, and now her dysfunctional family had grown that much crazier...

But hey. A little insanity was a good thing sometimes, and it seems like a little excitement turned out to be just what they both had needed.


End file.
